Soldier Investigator
by Leopardfang of Moonclan
Summary: Ángelita de Muerte. She's been the bodyguard of Oliver Davis for three years. Her job is to protect the young ghost hunter from non-spiritual threats. A seasoned Soldier from Spain, she served in Afghanistan for five years and worked in the Spanish Police force for a year. She has no powers and you can't exactly shoot a ghost so how's she going to help? Under Revisions.
1. Evil Spirits All Over: 1

**I own nothing but my OC's. I will be exploring Naru and Lin a little more, giving them hobbies, habits and all in all making them more realistic. They will still be in character (hopefully) so no need to worry.**

 **Plain text= Japanese**

 **~text ~= Spanish. Since I don't speak Spanish that will be used for long conversations but I do know a little Spanish so I will write some words in Spanish as well.**

 **Italics= Thoughts/Memories**

 **Bold Text= English**

* * *

"Do I need to shoot anyone?" Ángelita de Muerte asked as she looked at Lin sitting in his hospital bed.

The fluorescent lights from above shone down on them even though the sun was up and shining through the window. The smell if cleaners and antibiotics was prominent but due to her presence there was a faint, lingering scent of cigarette smoke. Seeing as how the man was 6'8 his leg hanged off of the bed while his other leg was suspended. This was something that Ángelita found very amusing. Line never did have the best of luck with beds. If he stretched out, most of the time his feet would hang off the edge.

"No." Lin said, glaring at the black haired woman. He could sense the amusement she felt towards his current predicament and didn't exactly appreciate it. He then sighed in aggravation. He was used to it by now. She had been poking fun at him and aggravating him for a few years now. He had learned to develop a thick skin, a sense of humor and an abundance of patience, when dealing with her at least. "Seeing as how I am unable to, you should go down to the school house we were hired to investigate. You remember the address, correct?"

"Sure." Ángelita said, tucking a strand of raven black hair behind her ear. "So other than a little girl putting you in the hospital," Ángelita smirked at Lin's look of irritation. "Did anything else happen?"

"No." Lin said.

Sighing she turned towards the door. "Aright, I'll go make sure Oliver doesn't kill himself. Don't die on me now; I need someone to spar with." She said with a teasing smile before walking out of the room.

As Ángelita was walking down the hall and towards the door, she thought about anything else she should do before hand while fingering the military tag hanging from her neck. It was a single oval stamped "ESPAÑA" above and below the 3-slot horizontal break line. It was stamped in 4 lines with the 1st being her religion (catholic), the second had her blood group (A) on the left and medical allergies (None) on the right, the third line had her military service and the fourth line had her DNI military number. She had gotten it when she became a soldier in the army. She served in Afghanistan for five years and was even placed on a special squad for her skills. She actually ended up leading it for one year before she decided to go home.

As she was thinking, she rubbed her dark skinned arms in an effort to warm herself as it was chilly in the hospital. She got cold very easily. She was beginning to really regret wearing a sleeveless shirt. Due to her lack of sleeves the tattoo on her left bicep was revealed. Three women with various hairstyles, faces painted like sugar skulls and the words 'dia de los muertos' written in cursive underneath.

She had used Lin's car to get to the hospital. When Oliver-

 _'No, Kazuya.'_ Ángelita reminded herself. When Kazuya and Lin had left for the school house, Lin left his other set of keys at the office. It was done on purpose so that she would have a way to get to the site. The woman opened the door to the driver's seat and sat down. Once she situated herself she turned to look in the backseat so that she could talk to her passenger.

"~Hola Shiki! Como estas?~" She asked. The large white dog barked happily and wagged his tail. The dog had a black leather collar on, dog tags and a protective charm that Lin had made. "~Okay, we're going to a creepy old school house. You ready? ~" Shiki barked again. She texted Kazuya to wait for her outside the school and Ángelita took off.

* * *

Pulling up to the main school building, Ángelita let Shiki out of the car and put him on his leash. The school wasn't all that different from any other average school she had seen in Japan. It wasn't a very prestigious school but it wasn't too shabby or run down either. Kazuya was waiting out front. As usual the handsome teenager was dressed in all black. Ángelita walked up to her young charge.

"So what are we doing Kazuya?" Ángelita asked, looking up at the school.

"I found some students who seem to know about the old school house. They were apparently telling ghost stories; let's go see if we can find out anything useful. Also, I found someone to replace Lin." The scientist said. Ángelita nodded and let the young teenager take the lead.

"Taking advantage of young girls, is there nothing you won't do Kazuya?" Ángelita teased.

"You took out two tactical vehicles in Afghanistan with a rocket launcher. You don't have much room to talk." The teenager fired back.

"Whatever." Ángelita rolled her golden eyes and continued to follow the teenager into the school

They walked up to a classroom and stood outside to listen in on what the girls were saying. After all, people tended to talk more when nobody of importance was around. It would be better to collect evidence before going into any situation.

"Hey, where should we meet today? It's not as spooky in here." A girl asked. She had long hair which was parted on the left.

"Should we meet in the audiovisual room again?" Another asked with her hair pinned back and bangs brushing against her eyebrows.

"Excuse me..." The duo outside saw a girl with dark twin braids and large, round glasses approach the girls. Her arms were crossed and she had a very stern look on her face.

"Oh Kuroda-san. We were just leaving." The girl with pigtails said with a small smile.

"I heard you guys. What were you talking about?" Kuroda asked, not dropping the matter.

"We're going to tell ghost stories again today. That's what." A girl with really short hair said.

"Hey!" One of her friends yelled. Apparently she wanted to keep their little rendezvous a secret.

"Ghost stories!?" Kuroda asked.

Kazuya then stepped inside the room, knocking on the side of the door with Ángelita trailing in behind him. "Taniyama-san, are you here?" He asked.

"Kyaah! It's Shibuya-sempai!" Two of the girls cheered while the other one didn't seem to thrilled to see him. Ángelita guessed the later was Taniyama. The dark skinned woman didn't use honorifics, she didn't see the point and really didn't care about offending people.

"Notice me sempai!" Ángelita whispered with a smirk towards Kazuya. She bounced on her feet a little bit. "Notice me sempai!"

"Quiet." Kazuya said, a tic mark appearing on his forehead. Ángelita snickered.

"What grade are you? What are you doing here?" Kuroda asked, glaring at Kazuya before narrowing her eyes towards Shiki. "Dogs aren't allowed in here!" The other girls looked at Shiki before smiling. They looked like they wanted to pet him but thought it would be rude to do so without permission. Besides, Shiki wasn't exactly a lap dog and he didn't look like one either.

"Oh no." Ángelita drawled sarcastically. "What ever will become of me and my dog?" She then puled out a cigarette and put it between her lips. Kuroda was about to comment on the school's no smoking policy when Kazuya spoke.

"Oh, I'm here to meet with these girls." Kazuya replied.

"A meeting? To tell ghost stories?" Kuroda demanded.

"Yes, and..?" Kazuya trailed off, wondering why that should matter.

Kuroda turned sharply towards Taniyama who flinched in surprise when she saw the intense look in the other girl's eyes.

"I told you to stop that nonsense! No wonder I've been having headaches since I came to school this morning." When the other girls looked confused Kuroda sighed and put her hand on her head. "I'm very psychic, and when the spirits gather I get a horrible headache. I've been having one all day so there must be one nearby."

"Yeah..." Taniyama said.

"Don't you know what you're doing? When you tell each other ghost stories, low-level spirits gather around. When low-level spirits gather, they call for high-level spirits that are more powerful. When that happens, it'll be too late. That's why you shouldn't be telling each other ghost stories for fun. I would expect you to know better, upper classmate, I'll perform an exorcism for you, just in case." Kuroda said.

"I think you're just imagining all this." Kazuya said.

"This is why I don't like dealing with non-psychic people." Kuroda said. Ángelita had to withhold a chuckle at that. Calling Oliver Davis of all people, not psychic.

"Then tell me...If you're really psychic, do you feel anything from the old building?" Kasuya asked.

"The old building? Oh, definitely. I believe it's haunted with the spirits of old war victims." Kuroda said.

"Which war?" Ángelita asked, slightly curious. She was very interested in history, especially war history. It was a bit of an obsession, her mother Catrina didn't think it was healthy. She said it wouldn't help with her PTSD but Catrina knew that her daughter was an adult and was free to make her own choices. Besides, Ángelita knew her mother thought that it was nice that she had a hobby.

"World War 2, of course." Kuroda said. "I'm sure there used to be an old hospital there. I've seen the spirits of nurses and patients with bandages."

"Really? I didn't know there was a hospital there during World War 2." Kazuya said. "I heard that the school has been here since before the war. Could it have been a medical school, perhaps?"

Kuroda flinched and flushed. "I...I don't know anything about that!" Kuroda said in a panicky voice. "I just know I saw them! But those who aren't psychic like me wouldn't understand."

Ángelita rolled her eyes and snickered as Kazuya spoke. "The principal mentioned that he's upset because the spirits in the old building are preventing him from demolishing it. Why don't you exorcise the spirits for him with your 'psychic power'?" Ángelita snickered again and playfully punched Kazuya on the shoulder. He took the words right out of her mouth. He glared at her but didn't do anything. It wasn't worth the effort of trying to reprimand her.

"Excuse me...Shibuya-sempai, can I cancel this evening?" One of the high school girls asked.

"Me, too I don't feel like telling ghost stories anymore." Another girl chimed in.

"No problem. We'll do it again some other time." Kazuya said.

"Whatever!" Kuroda snapped.

Just as they were almost out the door, Kazuya turned back to face the short-haired brunette. "Oh, ah, Taniyama-san..."

"Yes?" She replied, looking a little irritated.

"Can I talk to you for a sec?" Kazuya asked. The girl did not seem pleased by this idea at all but one glare from Ángelita's ward made the girl slouch and begin to slowly walk over.

"I guess he won't take no for an answer..." She grumbled. "Sure..."

"Ehh!? Why you?" One of her friends asked.

"We're jealous!" The other one said. Ángelita chuckled at their reactions.

* * *

"Is she one of your classmates?" Kazuya asked as the trio walked down the hallway.

"Yeah but...I've never really spoken to her before today. She seems a bit weird..." Taniyama said.

"Do you think she's really psychic?" Ángelita asked, taking another drag from her cigarette. Taniyama knew that the older woman had seen the no smoking signs. Ángelita really didn't care though. It seemed that Taniyama didn't think it was worth bringing up.

"That's what she says, so maybe she is. By the way, is your friend from this morning okay?" Taniyama asked Kazuya.

"I wanted to speak to you about that, too." Kazuya said, turning to face the young girl. "He sprained his left leg pretty badly and he won't be able to stand up on his own for a while." The girl flinched in shock.

"Oh no...That's too bad...oooh...ummm...how do you know him?" She asked, running her fingers through her short brown hair with a guilty look on her face.

"Assistant." Kazuya replied.

"Assistant? Oh...but it really wasn't my fault, honest! Your boss surprised me...that's why..." Taniyama said.

"The other way around.." Kazuya said. "I'm his boss. He's _my_ assistant."

"WHAAAAAT!?" Taniyama yelped in shock.

"So now...I have a problem, because my assistant is too injured to work. Don't you think you're responsible for this, Taniyama-san?" Kazuya said.

"Wait a minute, I happen to be a victim too!" Taniyama yelled angrily. "He scared the heck out of me and made me late for class!"

"He got hurt...what happened to you?" Kazuya and Ángelita asked at the same time. Taniyama flinched back. It was incredibly scary when they spoke in unison.

"And you broke me camera, too." Kazuya continued on and Taniyama got even more nervous. "Lin was...he was only trying to stop you from touching the camera. As a result this is what happened." Taniyama had no excuse. "You may choose to pay me back for the loss, but..."

"But I didn't mean to do it...besides, you shouldn't have left a camera in a place like that...so that's...why..." Taniyama trailed off when Kazuya glared at her. He didn't care and quite frankly Ángelita didn't care either. She thought Taniyama should do something to pay the camera back but to be honest she really didn't care either way.

"By the way...how much was it..?" Taniyama asked somewhat nervously.

"In Japanese yen, approximately one thousand man yen." Kazuya said calmly. Taniyama looked about ready to faint. Her expression was comical enough for Ángelita to snicker as she put out her cigarette.

"No way! How can a camera be so expensive!?" Taniyama asked.

"Well it was custom made from Germany. Custom made stuff from foreign countries tend to be expensive." Ángelita shrugged. "You want to see the warranty?"

Taniyama started mumbling about how many large orders of fries it would take her to get the money. Kazuya then spoke up. "If you can;t pay me back..."

"Ahh...then what..!?" Taniyama asked, looking very nervous.

"Would you fill in as my assistant?" Kazuya asked.

"You mean...I will be Shibuya-san's assistant?" Taniyama asked.

"Right. Did you not hear me?" Kazuya asked sarcastically.

Taniyama looked kind of uncertain about it. "It's no problem if you don't want to just make sure to pay me back for the camera." Kamiya said.

Taniyama immediately perked up. "I'd love to be your assistant." She said.

Kazuya smirked, causing a tic mark to form in Taniyama's forehead. "You little...by the way...what do you do, Shibuya-san!?"

 **"Ghost hunting."** Ángelita said.

"Which is?" Taniyama asked, putting a hand to her ear.

"The literal translation would be to eliminate evil spirits...I guess. I'm with Shibuya Psychic Research Center hired by the school principal to do research on the old school building." Kazuya said.

"I have a question." The girl asked, raising her hand like they were still in class. "What's a 'Psychic Research' center?"

Kazuya looked a little frustrated. "Aren't you taking English classes? You have terrible pronunciation."

Taniyama started punching the wall out of anger, most likely imagining that her fist was hitting Kazuya's face. Ángelita had done that many times herself when she was working out with a punching bag. "Why are you so mean all the time..?" she grumbled.

 _'Get used to it kid.'_ Ángelita thought to herself as she scratched Shiki behind the ears. Kazuya was only polite when it suited him or if he had something to gain. That rarely happened. It was easy enough to get along with him if you had a thick skin, a sense of humor and knew when to pick your battles.

"It's a research center for studying psychic phenomenon. And...I'm the president." Kazuya said.

 _'Of the temporary Japanese branch that your parents fund.'_ Ángelita thought to herself. She thought about calling him out but decided it wasn't worth it. If he wanted to show off a little that was his business.

* * *

The trio moved to sit outside by the tennis court. Ángelita sat down with Kazuya on a bench while Taniyama stood. Shiki sat nearby, resting his furry white head on his owner's leg. "One week ago the school principal came to hires us to work on this assignment. He asked us to look into the phenomenon that a rash of accidents always happened when they tried to demolish the old school building."

* * *

"Apparently there's a strange rumor that the old school building is cursed." The old principal had said over the phone.

* * *

"Is that the only reason you transferred to this school!?" Taniyama asked, shocked. Ángelita winced. Did the girl not know the meaning of an inside voice? Ángelita herself had quite the yelling voice, something she had inherited from her mother besides her looks. But she didn't yell all of the time.

"Why would I transfer here to do research!?" Kazuya asked.

"But yesterday you said you were a transfer student." Taniyama said, confused.

"Its called lying." Ángelita drawled, looking at Taniyama exasperatedly. "He was trying to gather information from the students."

"Did you talk about it?" Kazuya asked.

"Yeah. Michiru told us the story. Umm..." Taniyama paused, trying to recall the story.

"Wait." Kazuya said, before pulling out a recorder. Mai looked at the device curiously. "Start." He said, pressing the record button.

"Well..." Taniyama began.

* * *

"I see." Kazuya said after Taniyama concluded her story and he stopped recording.

"So how much of Michiru's story do you think is true?" Kazuya asked before reaching for his brief case. "I know it's true that there were many people who died while the old building was in use."

"Really? Wow..." Taniyama gasped.

Kazuya pulled out his notes and began reading. "Until eighteen years ago when the old building was still being used as a part of the main campus...One to two people died every year. It's also true that the roof fell in during the demolition of the west wing. However...there's no evidence that any demolition workers ever died. It's true that five people were injured but that accident was caused by human error, not spirits. Demolition was completed as planned. They demolished one third of the building and that was all."

"Since then...and this was six years ago...the body of a dead child was discovered in the old building. She was a seven year-old who lived in the neighborhood. She had been kidnapped for ransom. The criminal was caught and arrested one month after her body was found. And it's also true that there was a teacher who committed suicide, but...he suffered from neurosis. They found a suicide note he had left behind." Kazuya said.

"Impressive! Very good research." Taniyama applauded.

"This is nothing. Don't underestimate my investigative skills." Kazuya said, turning a page. Ángelita chuckled.

"So what about the truck that ran out of control?" Taniyama asked, looking a little irritated by Kazuya's earlier comment.

Kazuya hands the girl a newspaper clipping. She read it over while Kazuya spoke. "A demolition truck with a full load of bricks suddenly veered off the road and onto the high school volleyball court. There was a gym class in session and nine students were critically injured, two of them dying soon after the accident. The driver of the vehicle was found to be intoxicated and true, they had to stop demolition because of that accident... but some also believe it was because of the rumors about the building."

Taniyama looked at the pictures of the high school girls, feeling sorry for them when Kazuya spoke up. "But none of these events convince me that the rumors are true. People may believe that the building is ill-opened, but clearly there is an explanation for each of these accidents. My gut tells me this assignment will not reveal anything out of the ordinary."

"Aah...excuse me..." Taniyama said hesitantly. "Do I really have to help you..?" Kazuya glared at her and she slouched over. "Yeah I know...I obviously do..." Ángelita rolled her eyes, a smirk on her lips and an almost burned out cigarette between them.

* * *

Taniyama looked stunned at the microphones they had set up outside of the building. Ángelita looked up at the old building. The wood was dark and about a third of it was covered with a blue plastic sheet. It was obviously from the last time they attempted construction. Looking at the wood closer, she didn't think it was very stable. There should have been danger and safety signs posted around the old school building but she didn't see any.

"Take those microphones down and gather them up. I'll get the mike stands." Kazuya said, addressing Taniyama. Ángelita supposed that that meant she had no current task. She proceeded to occupy herself with petting Shiki and looking around her surrounding.

"What do you use these microphones for?" Mai asked, staring down at one that she was particularly close to.

"I suppose microphones are generally used to collect sound." Kazuya said sarcastically.

"That's not what I was asking, I know that much!" Taniyama said angrily. It seemed Kazuya had a gift for riling her up. Either that or she was a very emotional person.

"It's dangerous to go into a haunted building you're not yet familiar with. So it's important to first collect as much information as possible from outside of the building." Kazuya said as he began to take down the mike stands. "For example, record sound from the outside or set up cameras around the building."

"So...Aren't you scared of that haunted building?" Taniyama asked.

"Not particularly." Kazuya shrugged.

"And haunted has yet to be determined" Ángelita pointed out.

"Right." Mai said, nodding towards Ángelita. For some reason, the younger girl hadn't spoken to her as much as she did Kazuya. "By the way, why are you doing this at your age?" Taniyama asked, turning to Kazuya.

"Because they need me." Kazuya replied without any hesitation.

"Bu-but there must have been cases you couldn't solve?" Taniyama asked, sweat dropping.

"Never. Because I can. Always." Kazuya said.

"Ahh..." Taniyama sighed, a tick mark forming. It would appear she was beginning to lose patience with the dark haired ghost hunter. "How impressive!" Taniyama said, her voice sounding a little odd due to how nervous she was. "You're handsome, and on top of that you're capable of getting a difficult job done."

"You think...I'm handsome?" Kazuya asked, turning towards the young girl.

 _'Apparently she also has a very loose tongue.'_ Ángelita thought to herself and then made a private note to not trust Taniyama to keep a secret. If she can't even keep her own thoughts to herself, how could she be expected to keep a secret?

"Yeah...I guess. Everyone else seems to think so." Taniyama said nervously.

"I see...at least they have good taste." Kazuya said before turning around and walking into the building.

Taniyama's mind seemed to implode as she tried to comprehend Kazuya's level of narcissism. Ángelita chuckled before following Kazuya. As she walked in, she noticed that Shiki seemed perfectly calm. Dogs, cats and other animals were sensitive to the paranormal so Shiki would notice anything supernatural long before his owner did. Were the ghosts just hiding or were they non existent?

* * *

Later, the trio, plus the dog walked over to the truck, which was parked on the side of the building that had been partially demolished. Ángelita planned on moving it at some point. Since that side of the building was the most likely to collapse, she figured it would be a good idea to be safe and move the van to the other side of the building. She decided to do that when she had the chance.

"Ok I helped you. So was that enough." Taniyama asked as she held the microphones. "I want to go now..."

Kazuya ignored her and opened the truck, revealing monitors, cameras and all the other equipment they used.

"Let's carry them out." Kazuya said.

"You mean all of them!?" Mai yelled, gesturing wildly to all of the monitors.

"We're going to need everything." Ángelita said, getting a little aggravated with the girl's complaining. What did she expect? She broke the camera, couldn't pay for it so now she had to work off her debt.

"Do you really know how to use all this stuff, Shibuya-san?" Taniyama asked.

"I'm smart, unlike you. Let's go." Kazuya said.

"Are we going inside?" Taniyama asked nervously.

"Obviously." Ángelita said. "Relax, it's not like you're going in alone." Regardless of her words, Taniyama still looked nervous.

* * *

Taniyama's step made the floor boards squeak. The inside of the school house was dark and smelled of rotting wood. Shiki's claws clicked against the wood as he walked beside Ángelita who was carrying some shelving units.

"Let's use this room." Kazuya said, stepping into what must have been a classroom.

"Could you build a shelf, please? Ángelita and I are going to bring in some more equipment."

"You're going to leave me in here all by myself?!" Taniyama yelled.

"Would you rather carry the equipment? It probably ways 40kg..." Kazuya said.

Taniyama slumped in defeat. "I'll build the shelf."

Deciding to take pity on the girl, Ángelita let Shiki off of his leash. After muttering a quiet command in Spanish, the former soldier watched her dog walk over and sit by Taniyama. "Dogs are sensitive to the paranormal. Shiki will sense something way before you do."

"Thanks." Taniyama said looking down at the large white dog. She then turned back to the older woman. "What's your name by the way? I can tell you're a foreigner. I'm sorry I haven't asked sooner it's just that you're...well...a little...intimidating." Mai said, appearing a little sheepish and embarrassed as she looked the foreign woman up and down. She was as tall as Kazuya and had very defined muscles.

Ángelita laughed. "Good, you should be intimidated. I'm _Capitán_ Ángelita de Muerte, veteran from the Spanish army. I served in Afghanistan for five years." Ángelita reached out and shook Taniyama's hand. Her grip wasn't hard enough to hurt, but hard enough for the high schooler to know there was some serious power behind the grip.

"Wow!" Mai exclaimed, impressed. Ángelita smirked. "Thank you for your services." Taniyama said bowing deeply.

This surprised the veteran. "I didn't know Japan fought in the Afghan War."

"We didn't." Taniyama said with a smile. "But that doesn't mean you shouldn't be thanked for all you sacrificed."

This stunned the veteran. She actually wasn't properly thanked for her time in the military all that much, especially not by strangers. When she told someone she fought in Afghanistan, they usually got uncomfortable and tried to change the subject, mostly to keep the situation from getting awkward. But what a lot of people didn't know, was that sometimes, a simply thank you could mean a lot.

"And thank you for saying that _perrita_." Ángelita said, looking down at Taniyama, fondly.

"What does that mean?" Taniyama asked. She knew that Ángelita knew her name. Was this some kind of term of endearment, a nickname? She didn't seem irritated when she said it so it couldn't mean anything bad.

"Are you two done? Let's get going." Kazuya said.

Ángelita rolled her eyes and then proceeded to follow Kazuya out the door.

 **"Hey Noll?"** Ángelita switched to English once they were a sufficient ways away and she was sure that Taniyama wouldn't hear them. **"Aren't all the cameras insured?"**

 **"Yes, why do you ask?"** Noll smirked as he grabbed some cables once they reached the car.

 **"So you're trying to score some free help?"** Ángelita smirked and chuckled as she grabbed a monitor. **"As expected of you."**

They didn't speak the rest of the way back to the classroom. When they walked in, Taniyama gasped in fear, surprised by their sudden entrance.

"Don't just stand there. Get to work!" Kazuya snapped. Mai did not look happy. Shiki settled decided to lay down on the floor and get comfortable.

* * *

"Wow..." Mai gasped, looking at all of the monitors on the shelves once they were done. Ángelita was sitting off to the side in an old desk smoking a cigarette. Shiki sat next to her as she blew smoke out of an open window.

"Ah, what's that?" Taniyama asked, looking at what Kazuya was taking out of a box. Kazuya turned towards her, making her flinch. "That thing."

"It's a tape recorder." Kazuya said. "But this one is a little special. It can record for up to twenty-four hours. This is what we plug our mike into."

"What's it for?" Taniyama asked.

"I hate having to explain things to amateurs." Kazuya said.

Taniyama glared at him, aggravated. "You knew I was an amateur when you hired me. If you've got a problem with that, then I won't help you."

Ángelita watched as the two had a staring contest, silently having a battle of wills. Surprisingly enough, Kazuya gave in. He sighed, but did as the girl asked.

"It's to record the sound of a ghost or anything else unusual. All day today I recorded the sound of the first floor through the window, just as a test." Kazuya said.

"Oh. That microphone from earlier." Taniyama said, putting the pieces together.

"Correct. Tonight, we'll set the mic and recorder in the room." Kazuya said.

"You don't stay overnight?" Taniyama asked.

"Not yet." Kazuya said. "If there really is a ghost, first I'll need to determine how powerful it is."

"You're the type of person who looks before he leaps." Taniyama observed.

"What?" Kazuya asked, turning to face her.

"You're extremely careful." She said.

"Of course. Sometimes you encounter great danger in a haunted house. If you underestimate, you might never return." Kazuya said, causing Taniyama to gulp.

"Don't scare me like that." Taniyama said, admonishing the older boy. She then noticed a camera down by her feet. "Hey, what's this."

"I don't want to talk anymore." Kazuya said sternly, turning back to continue what he had been doing prior to his little Into to Ghost Hunting lecture with Taniyama.

"Ah...I see." Taniyama said, crossing her arms. "No problem. But I might make some big mistakes out of ignorance." She said before putting the most innocent look she could muster and placed her foot on the camera. "Is this a camera or a fancy footstool? Oops..."

Kazuya whirled around to face Taniyama. They had another staring contest before, again, Kazuya submitted. "It's and infrared camera." He sighed.

Ángelita snickered quietly. She would gladly keep the little _perrita_ around if it meant she could watch such hilarious interactions between her and Noll. Scratching Shiki behind his ears, Ángelita idly wondered if Lin would find it just as funny as she did.

"To save you the trouble of asking, this is a thermograph. And this one is a super high-speed camera." Kazuya explained, gesturing to each device. "The infrared and super high-speed cameras are used for shooting in the dark. The thermograph is a camera that's sensitive to temperature and captures temperature levels."

"Wow..." Taniyama said, looking at the cameras.

I may as well teach you this, too." Kazuya said. "Thermography is to measure temperature. When a ghost appears, the temperature drops in the surrounding area."

"I see." Taniyama said.

"Now if you understand, stop asking stupid questions and get work!" Kazuya snapped.

"Yes sir!" Taniyama said fearfully. Ángelita got up as well. With the girl around, Kazuya wasn't paying her too much attention but she might as well get to work. She would have plenty of time to laze about later.

* * *

Soon, everything was ready and the machines were powered up and doing their thing. Taniyama had gone out to take the temperatures in each room and Ángelita was enjoying another cigarette. She had already helped set up the monitors and plug everything in, so, unless Kazuya had a task for someone without psychic powers, which he didn't, Ángelitawould keep smoking by the window with Shiki by her feet. She never really paid attention during the slow part of investigations unless she was given a task.

"I'm back." Taniyama said as she walked back into base, clipboard in hand. "I measured the temperatures in each room like you asked." Kazuya took the clipboard from her. "This digital thermometer is pretty handy." The girl said, looking at the small device in her hand.

"Nothing unusual...The temperature isn't lower in any particular area. The first floor;s a little lower than the other classrooms...but not enough to matter." Kazuya said.

"Then that means there are no spirits here?" Taniyama asked, throwing the thermometer up and down before catching it.

"Stop playing with that. We don't know that yet. Ghosts can be shy. It's normal for psychic phenomenon to stop temporarily when an outsider comes in." Kazuya said, caught it after she threw it again. "Anyway, this isn't helping us gather any information. First..let's position the infrared cameras: four of them on the first and second floor hallways and one at the entrance." The girl did not seem all to pleased with the idea with more work but Ángelita stood up and proceeded to do the task Kazuya described.

* * *

Once they were done, Taniyama was moaning about her back hurting. Ángelita wasn't all that surprised, the girl was skin and bones with no muscle. Then again, the veteran did work out a lot, even though she was no longer active.

She sparred with Lin all of the time to keep her fighting skills sharp after he was finished practicing Tai Chi with Noll in the sauna room on the top floor at the hotel. The two of them used that area for privacy. It wasn't as if Kazuya did it as a martial art or for health reasons. Tai Chi was considered a standard for Qigong techniques such as Tu-na, so it couldn't be helped. When Noll lived at home, they used to meet once a week, but since coming to Japan and living in the same hotel, it became a habit to do it every morning. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that Lin did it every morning, and Noll just accompanied him so he could get his posture looked over.

Lin actually knew Karate and he and Ángelita worked out together. Due to his intense martial arts training he had a great variety of strikes and he had longer limbs than she did, therefore, greater reach. But Ángelita was no weakling and was better at grappling than he was. Once the both of them were on the ground it was simply a matter of who could get who in a submission hold faster. Whoever performed the takedown usually got the other in a submission hold fairly quickly.

A submission hold was when one fighter has his or her opponent held in a painful position where he or she can't move or escape. Left without any other options, the opponent is forced to either submit or deal with the extreme pain of a dislocated joint, torn tendons or worse.

There had been times where Lin and Ángelita had seriously injured each other. Outside of bruises, black eyes or the occasional broken noses they both sometimes got too into the fight. Lin and had broken three of Ángelita's ribs with a kick to the side and she had dislocated his shoulder a couple of times. When they sparred they didn't pull punches, they hit each other with every ounce of strength that they had. Even though they were friends they both agreed if they walked away without any bruises then it wasn't a real fight.

"You may go home now." Kazuya told the high school girl. "We're done for today. The cameras will do the rest."

"Seriously. You don't really look like a psychic." Taniyama said, rubbing her back.

"Ghost hunter." Kazuya corrected. "Don't confuse me with psychics."

"Same thing." Taniyama sighed, turning around. "Well I'm leaving now. See ya."

"Tomorrow after school meet me in front of the van." Taniyama did not seem happy about that idea.

Ángelita stomped out her cigarette and followed Kazuya out to the van. Shiki hopped in the back and Kazuya sat in the passenger seat. Not only did he find driving bothersome but there was also no way that the former soldier would ever let him drive. Any time she was in a vehicle with him behind the wheel she nearly had a heart attack. She decided to take the time they had on the drive back to the hotel to ask the teen a few questions.

 **"So do you think that place is haunted?"** Ángelita asked, stopping at a red light.

 **"It's only the first day so a lot can happen. But as of yet I don't think so."** Noll said.

 **"Shiki hasn't barked, growled or even stared at anything. He's been totally fine."** Ángelita said, glancing back at the large white dog. **"Either the spirits are really shy or they just don't exist."** The light turned green and they pressed onwards. **"By the way, when is Lin getting out?"**

 **"Monday, in the evening."** Was all Noll said and they were quiet the rest of the way to the hotel.

* * *

"Hello...What are you doing?" Taniyama asked as she walked up to Kazuya and Ángelita by the team van. The other two had arrived about an hour ago. Kazuya was looking over the data on his laptop. Ángelita leaned up against the side of the van, smoking while Shiki stared at a butterfly.

"Reviewing the data we collected yesterday." Kazuya said.

Did you find anything?" Taniyama asked. Ángelita decided to stop referring to her by her last name in her head. She didn't even bother with honorifics so why waste her time with the last name stuff? Besides, Mai was just quicker and easier.

"Nothing unusual. Either there are no ghosts or they're hiding for now...So there doesn't appear to be any danger at the present time." Kazuya said, his eyes scanning the screen.

"Well! Impressive equipment!" A woman's voice said. "For kids' toys, they seem pretty fancy don't they?"

"Hey! Don't get snippy with my boss." Ángelita said, coming out from behind the truck, which hid her from view.

Ángelita had already noticed them, as had Shiki, but looked at them fully to take in their appearance. The woman was dressed very fancily with designer clothes and she had long red hair. She looked very glamorous. The man was taller than the woman, dressed casually by comparison and his bleached hair was tied back into a ponytail.

"He's your boss?" The woman asked, raising a brow. "What exactly do you do?"

"I protect him." Ángelita said cooly. She unzipped her black leather jacket, revealing twin pistols. Mai, the man and the red head paled at the sight of the guns. "Do you need to see my license?"

"And, you are?" Kazuya asked the redhead, tired of his body guard's intimidation game.

"I'm Ayako Matsuzaki. Nice to meet you." She said.

"I'm not interested in your name." Kazuya said.

Ayako looked irritated and the man with her looked amused. "You're pretty sassy aren't you, little boy?" Ayako asked. "But handsome."

"Thanks." Kazuya said.

"But you can't exorcise spirits with your face." Ayako said cooly.

"You're in the same business?" Kazuya asked, his attention now more focused on the two strangers.

"You could say that. I'm a miko." Ayako said, crossing her arms.

Kazuya then grinned sarcastically. That was the only way to describe the particular kind of smile he was now displaying. "I thought you had to be a pure and innocent young lady to become a miko."

Several tick marks appeared on Ayako's forehead. "Oh...that's not how I look to you?"

"For starters, I'd say that you look a little too old to be innocent." Kazuya said, causing the man and Ángelita to start snickering. "And you wear too much make up to be pure." The man was laughing openly at that statement. "And you?" Kazuya asked, addressing the older male. "You don't act like you're Matsuzaki-san's assistant."

"No kidding." He said. "I'm Takigawa Houshou, a monk from Koya Mountain."

"Mt. Koya now allows long hair on their monks?" Kazuya asked.

"He's an outlaw." Ayako said, taking a drag from her cigarette. Ángelita noticed that it was a Seven Star cigarette. Ángelita herself smoked Seven Star cigarettes as well since it was the only Japanese brand she could stand but it was a low tobacco brand. As a result, she smoked much more often. She muched prefered the Fortuna brand from Spain, which was actually the most popular back home.

"I'm just taking a break!" He snapped.

 _'Touchy subject.'_ Ángelita thought to herself.

"Anyway, kids' playtime is over. We'll take it from here. The principal told me he no long had confidence in you. Who could blame him? You're only seventeen. The principal thought your company was established and trustworthy because your office location is in a nice, prestigious neighborhood like Shibuya. But he mistook your name for the location, and once he found out the 'president's' age, he decided to call in the professionals."

"Is that so?" Kazuya asked, unaffected by what Takigawa was saying.

"But the principal is also overreacting." Ayako said. "Gathering so many people to work on such a crappy old building."

"That's right. I would've been enough." Takigawa said with a smirk.

"Well, we'll see about that." Ayako smirked back. "By the way little boy, what's your name?" She asked, turning to the teenager in the van.

"Kazuya Shibuya." He said, not looking away from his computer.

"Never heard of you. Must be third-class." Takigawa said.

"I've never head of Takigawa Houshou either." Ayako said, crossing her arms.

"Well, you need to study harder. Actually, I've never heard of Matsuzaki whomever, either." Takigawa snapped.

"Maybe _you'd_ better study harder!" Ayako yelled. They continued to bicker when Ángelita heard the crunch of a foot on the ground.

"Taniyama-san." The new comer said, waving. It was the supposedly psychic girl from Mai's class. "Who are these people?" She asked.

"Oh well, a monk and miko-san. They came to check up on the old building." Mai said.

"Ah, I'm glad." The girl said. Wasn't her name Kuroda or something. "I've had trouble lately, because this old building is such a nest for evil spirits!"

Ayako and Takigawa seemed surprised by this. "What did you just say?" Ayako asked, her eyes narrowing.

"I'm very psychic...and I've been having trouble..." Kuroda said, seeming a little nervous.

"You crave attention don't you?" Ayako asked, her voice hard.

"...Huh?" Kuroda asked.

"You want to be in the spotlight? Do you want people's attention that badly?" Ayako asked.

"You-you don't need to talk to her like that!" Mai yelled, standing in front of Kuroda and glaring at Ayako.

"Although it's true. She's not really psychic." Ayako said.

"How do you know!?" Mai yelled.

"If you look at her, it's easy to tell she just wants attention." Ayako said. Ángelita personally agreed but didn't think it was worth getting into an arguement with Mai.

"How dare..." Mai stopped when Kuroda laughed evilly.

"Whatever...But I really do have strong psychic power. I will gather evil spirits and put a spell on you..."

"Kuroda-san!" mai gasped.

"Very strong...really." Kuroda said with a dark look in her eyes. Mai shivered, "You fake miko...you'll soon regret this." She then turned and walked away.

"Kuroda-san!" Mai called out but the girl never looked back.

 _'I can already tell she's gonna be a huge pain in the ass.'_ Ángelita thought to herself.

Mai suddenly shook her head before turning back to Kazuya. "Hey, Naru-chan. What do you want me to do today?"

"What...did you call me..?" Kazuya asked, turning back to Mai with wide eyes. "Did you just call me 'Naru'?" He stood up. Ángelita caught it too. There was no possible way that this high school girl...

"Oh darn. S-s...sorry...I..." Mai stuttered.

"Where did you hear that?" Kazuya narrowed his eyes.

Mai gasped. "Naru; must be your real nickname!" She then slapped Kazuya on the shoulder several times as she laughed nervously. "Hah! Just as I thought. Other people had the same idea. Naru-chan, short for narcissist."

"...huh?" Was all Kazuya could say. Ángelita started snickering. Mai hadn't even known Noll for a full day and she had already come up with a perfect nickname.

"Anyway. What are we going to do today?" Mai asked.

"Well...Because there's no reaction from the spirits, there's not much we can do at the moment...but Mai's sempai..." Kazuya ignored Mai's outburst about him addressing her by her first name. "You mentioned that earlier too, didn't you? Do you happen to know which classroom your sempai saw the human silhouette in?"

"Well, I believe it was in the far west corner of the building, on the second floor." Mai said.

"Ok. Let's set up the equipment in there." Kazuya said, turning to the van.

"Ahh...sure." Mai said.

"Oh, hello." Everyone turned and saw the principal of the school, standing with someone else. He was short, with bright blonde hair, blue eyes and very kind features. He was quite obviously a foreigner. "How are things going?" The principal asked. "We have one more guest joining us. I'd like you to meet John Brown."

 _'The most stereotypical white guy name.'_ Ángelita couldn't help but think to herself.

"Hello." John said, bowing almost completely in half. "I'm John Brown. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Apparently,ah...Brown-san learned Japanese in the Kansai area..." The principal said, "Excuse me, I must go now."

"Thank you very much." John said, bowing deeply once again. Ayako and Takigawa were struggling not to laugh at John's way of speaking.

"Brown-san? Where are you from?" Kazuya asked.

"I'm from Australia." John said.

"Hey, dude! I'm begging. Please don't speak in such a weird Kyoto dialect!" Takigawa said.

"You don't have to laugh so hard..." Mai said, though she was laughing too.

"But if I want to speak politely, shouldn't I speak in a Kyoto dialect?" John asked with the must adorably confused face.

"The Kyoto dialect is one of many! Trust me on this, you need to stop it okay?" Takigawa managed to say amongst his laughter.

"The I'll try to speak more casually." John said. "Are all of you psychics?"

Een Kazuya seemed a little amused with John's way of speaking. "You might say that...how about you?"

"I see. I'm an exorcist." John said, causing all of the earlier amusement to immediately turn serious.

"In Catholicism I believe you have to be ranked higher than a priest to become an exorcist. You're very young even to be a priest." Kazuya said. Ángelita agreed. She went to private Catholic schools all her life as a student and even though she didn't go to church anymore she still remembered a lot.

"You are very knowledgeable. Actually I'm nineteen. I just look young for my age. It's a pleasure to meet you." John said, bowing once again.

* * *

"So, your equipment..." Ayako said. "You have quite a collection of expensive gear. How unfortunate that all your efforts have been in vain."

"Did you come here to play around or to find a ghost?" Kazuya asked, looking at the screen. Ángelita smirked. Clearly he was getting tired of Ayako's crap as well.

"This is why I don't like kids!" Ayako said angrily as she stomped out of the room.

"Aren't we all here to work together?" John asked, looking a little unsure. He turned towards Kazuya. "I feel a bit awkward. I'd like to help, so do you mind if I stay?"

"Please do." Kazuya said, turning towards the equipment.

"Hey, what's this? This image..." Mai trailed off when she noticed Kazuya's glare. John walked up to the screen that Mai was looking at.

"I believe it's a thermographic image. Yellow represents higher temperatures. In contrast, blue represents lower temperatures." John said, pointing to the screen.

"Thank you. You're kind, Brown-san." Mai said, glaring at Kazuya from the corner of her eye, who ignored her.

"It was nothing..." John said, flushing like a tomato. "And just call me John."

"You're kinda cute." Mai giggled. Ángelita couldn't help but agree. Not in a way that made her want to jump his bones but in a 'he is too precious and pure for this world so he must be protected' kind of way. Before Ángelita could verbalize any of these thoughts in order to tease the priest, Mai turned to one of the monitors.

"Naru!" She gasped.

Ángelita, John, Mai and Kazuya looked at the screen. At the bottom floor, near the entrance was a young Japanese girl with very doll like features. Her shiny black hair was very short and came down to her chin. She was also wearing a traditional kimono. Eventually, the girl turned away and walked off.

"Ah...what was that..?" Mai asked Kazuya nervously.

Shiki sensed her first. He stared at the door with an intense gaze. Ángelita put a hand on one of her guns, just in case... When the door opened, revealing the girl they had seen on the monitor, Mai jumped back in fright but John caught her.

"Mai-san...it's okay. She's not a ghost." John said soothingly.

"The principal must really want to demolish this building pretty badly if he invited you." Kazuya said, leaning back against a table.

"You know her!?" Mai gasped.

Ángelita recognized her as well. She had seen Masako Hara in passing while she was flipping through the channels on TV. She was pretty famous and apparently well known among the paranormal world. Just as Mai seemed to have calmed down there was a loud scream from down the hall.

"What was that!?" Takigawa yelled.

"It sounded like Matsuzaki-san's voice." John said as he, Kazuya and Ángelita walked out of base.

"Over there." Kazuya said, looking down the hall.

Ayako had managed to get herself trapped in a classroom. "Open up! Please open the door!" She screamed. Kazuya tried to slide it open but it appeared to be stuck. Shiki was sniffing around the door and after a few seconds returned to Ángelita's side.

"Strange." Takigawa said. "Let me try." Mai and Masako looked on.

"It won't open. I'm going to have to kick it in! Ayako, move back!" Takigawa yelled.

"Hey, don't call me by my first name!" Ayako said from behind the door.

Ángelita was impressed by the swift and strong kick the monk delivered to knock down the door. Then again the wood was probably old and rotting so it wasn't that amazing. Ayako quickly got out of the room and everyone returned to base.

* * *

"I was checking out the classroom when all of a sudden the door closed by itself and wouldn't open." Ayako said as she took a sip of the drink Mai had brought her.

"You're sure you didn't just close it by yourself?" Masako asked.

"Yes I'm sure!" Ayako snapped. "There's definitely something here."

"I don't sense it at all. There are no spirits in this building." Masako said.

"Who do you think you are?" Ayako said.

"You're making light of my being a psychic, aren't you!? Aren't you a little embarrassed of being scared by a door that wouldn't open?" Masako asked. Ángelita started smoking a cigarette while the two of them argued.

"Shut up you little jerk!" Ayako said, a tic mark appearing on her forehead. "I'm a professional, unlike a fake psychic medium who got popular just because of her looks!"

"Thank you for the compliment on my good looks." Masako said calmly.

Ayako sighed in aggravation. "I think what I just experienced was caused by a Chirei that lives on land."

"Chirei?" Mai asked. "You mean like Jibakurei?"

"No I don't. Jibakurei are human spirits trapped in a particular location because of something that happened here. Chirei are spirits of the land...also known as 'seirei'." Ayako said.

"I think it was an act by a Jibakurei." Takigawa said. "I wonder if something happened to this building in the past? My guess is, there's a ghost that's afraid of losing its home and is trying to prevent the demolition."

"What do you think, John?" Kazuya asked, turning to the young priest.

"I don't really know. Isn't the phenomenon of a haunted building usually caused by a spirit or a ghost?" John asked.

"Spirit..soul..." Kazuya muttered while playing with a nail. "And you, Ángelita?" Kazuya asked, turning to his body guard.

"I don't think there's anything here." Ángelita said, taking a drag from her cigarette.

"In case you don't remember I was trapped in that room just a few minutes ago!" Ayako yelled before coughing when the veteran blew out a plume of smoke into her face.

"In case you don't remember this building is as old as shit. Water damage, no insulation, partial demolition and teenagers sneaking in here to do lord know what? I'm pretty sure the wind just blew the door shut and then it got jammed. Shiki here hasn't sensed anything either." Ángelita said, kneeling down beside the white dog and ruffling his fur. "Dogs are sensitive to the paranormal, that's a common fact in this field and one I'm sure you are all well aware of."

"A ghost is a yurei. Are you listening, Mai?" Kazuya asked, turning towards the high school girl who glared at him.

"Thank you for caring!" She grumbled.

"So if a psychic phenomenon is caused by spirits, it would mean that chirei have a close connection with the location, or it could mean that the spirits have called for the devil." John said. "If the phenomenon was caused by a ghost, that would mean it was an act by a jibakurei."

"So don't you think it was caused by a chirei!?" Ayako asked.

"It's a jibakurei, right!?" Takigawa asked.

"I can't tell for sure." John said, looking a little uncomfortable with how Ayako and Takigawa were ganging up on him. Ayako turned away and started walking out the door.

"Anyway! I just need to exorcise it, right? I'll take care of it tomorrow. I couldn't stand being involved with a crappy incident like this for much longer." Ayako said before leaving.

"What a waste." Masako sighed. "As I said, there are no spirits here."

"But there are so many stories about this building." Mai said. "And how do you explain miko-san getting locked in that room just now?"

"I think I just did a minute ago." Ángelita said, interrupting Masako, who looked a little huffy about it.

"Oh, right..." Mai said, smiling sheepishly.

"I've been meaning to ask you..." Masako said, walking up to Kazuya. "Have we met somewhere before?"

"No...I believe this is the first time." Kazuya said.

"Is that right..?" Masako asked, tilting her head to the side.

Ángelita chuckled. It seemed that Noll had another admirer.

"Naru! The sun in about to set." Mai said.

"Ah..." Kazuya said, now realizing how late it had gotten. "We need to put our equipment in the second floor classroom in the far west corner of the building. Then we should get out of here."

"Oh. Young one, you're not going to stay over night?" Takigawa asked.

"Not tonight...Mai." Kazuya said, turning towards the brown haired girl. "Tomorrow after school, please be prepared to stay."

"Tomorrow is Saturday!" Mai protested.

"Would you rather pay me back for the camera?" Kazuya crossed his arms.

"I'll be ready." Mai said, defeated. Ángelita chuckled. How very amusing.


	2. Evil Spirits All Over: 2

**I own nothing but my OC's.**

 **Plain text= Japanese**

 **~text ~= Spanish. Since I don't speak Spanish that will be used for long conversations but I do know a little Spanish so I will write some words in Spanish as well. Unless of course someone wants to do the translations for me.**

 **Italics= Thoughts/Memories**

 **Bold Text= English**

* * *

Ángelita and Kazuya got back to the site a little later than they had planned. Traffic had been horrible so they were a little bit behind schedule. This had obviously put Kazuya in a bit of a foul mood. Ángelita didn't pay him any mind, he was always in a foul mood. After Shiki got done doing his business the trio walked into the building. On the way up they heard Mai talking to someone.

When they got closer Ángelita realized it was Kuroda, the annoying little shit from Mai's class. The hispanic woman put a cigarette in her mouth, already feeling the oncoming headache and was about to light up when Kazuya held out a hand for her to stop. The two then proceeded to eavesdrop on the conversation.

"The psychic medium said there are no spirits here." Mai said.

"By psychic medium, do you mean Masako Hara? She's a fake." Kuroda said.

"Huh!?" Mai gasped.

"She's popular on TV because of her good looks but she's not a real psychic." Kuroda said. "There are spirits here, very strong ones..."

"But you're the only one who's feeling it." Mai said.

"I was attacked by spirits a little while ago." Kuroda said.

"No way!" Mai gasped.

"It's true. I was walking in the hallway and suddenly something started pulling my hair from behind. I tried to run away but it choked me..." Kazuya walked in immediately after hearing that, Shiki and Ángelita right on his heels.

"When did that happen?" Kazuya asked.

"Just now." Kuroda said.

"Let's replay the video." Kazuya said, walking over to the equipment. "Where were you?"

"The second-floor hallway." Kuroda said.

Kazuya brought up the footage they needed. Their eyes were glued to the screen as they watched the young girl enter the building. Kuroda walked up the staircase before disappearing from the view of the camera.

"Right there!" Mai said, pointing to another screen. Kuroda walked up the stairs but just as she came to the top the camera went to static. "What's that! Is it broken?" Mai asked, shocked.

"Everything is operating as it should be." Kazuya said. "And the camera shouldn't be broken. This is very interesting."

"What is?" Mai asked.

"When the spirit appears, suddenly the machine stops working properly." Kazuya said. "I wonder if this was caused by a spirit, or trouble with the radio waves, or..." Kazuya turned to Kuroda. "You mentioned it said something. What did it sound like?"

"It was a horse voice...but I believe it was female." Kuroda said.

"But Masako said there was no spirit." Mai said.

"I wonder if she truly is psychic." Kuroda said scornfully.

"I believe her more than I believe you." Ángelita said with a shrug.

"There are spirits here." Kuroda said firmly.

"I call bullshit on your story. Why aren't there any marks on your neck? Why didn't you call out for help?" Ángelita narrowed her eyes at Kuroda. "Also, why are you calling everyone a fake? According to you, Ayako and Masako, who both have a lot more experience than you, are fakes. You seem to be the only one here to sense these spirits."

"But what about Kuroda being attacked?" Mai asked.

"I literally just explained that. Plus, she could have done that magical thing known as lying." Ángelita said sarcastically.

Kuroda clenched her fist and glared up at the older woman. "I'm not a liar."

"Why should I believe you?" Ángelita said with a sneer. "You sneak into an abandoned building and force yourself into an investigation you have no part of, you call everyone fakes and you came in here before Mai so how do we know you didn't mess with the equipment?"

Kazuya spoke before Kuroda could argue or Mai could call Ángelita out on her rudeness. "It is normal for a female medium to have a bad day once in awhile. I thought I could rely on her talent. Or...let's say there really is a spirit here and perhaps you and the spirit are on the same wavelength."

"That may be why..." Kuroda said, looking very happy.

Ángelita looked at Kazuya, surprised that he would defend the little _~puta de la atención~_ but decided it wasn't worth the confrontation. While she did love to fight, she only did it for entertainment or when she felt it was worth it. Attacking Kuroda further wasn't worth it nor would it bring her pleasure. But her desperate need for attention was getting on her nerves. Ángelita really didn't want to have to deal with the consequences if she decided to shoot the girl. It would be quite troublesome.

* * *

Later on, Ayako was dressed in her priestess garb leading several staff members from the school into the building. She had a mini shrine set up as well for her little exorcism. She turned towards the older men with a confident smirk.

"Ok, pay attention. I'll exorcise it, no problem." She said.

"I wonder if she's really able..." Monk said, looking at Ayako curiously. Mai, Kazuya, John, Shiki and Ángelita stood off to the side along with him.

"I've never seen a Shinto-style exorcism.I guess I'll check it out too." Kazuya said.

Ayako then began waving some kind of magic paper mache wand around while saying some kind of incantation. Mai asked Kazuya a few questions but Ángelita's mind was wandering. She was wondering how long the case was going to last. She wanted to head down to Roppongi in Tokyo and race. She was part of a motorcycle club that gathered there often where they raced gambled and just hanged out with fellow bike lovers. She just wanted to take her bike down there to do some racing, a little gambling and some victory dancing once she won. She only snapped out of it when she heard Ayako stop waving her magic paper mache wand.

"Now you can feel relieved." She said confidently.

The two men sighed in relief. "Wow! Very impressive. How shall I put it...it felt heavenly." One of them said.

"Shall we go out for drinks to celebrate tonight." The other said. "What would you say to a party tonight in your honor?"

"To be on the safe side, we'll spend the night here so that we can make sure everything is okay." Ayako and Monk yawned and began walking off.

"I'm impressed, you are indeed a professional." One of the men said. "Why don't we go for lunch somewhere?" Now that the priestess was done, maybe Ángelita could have a cigarette. They began walking back towards base when they all suddenly heard glass breaking. They all turned.

"Duck!" Ángelita yelled but it was too late.

They watched as the glass shattered towards the trio. Ayako ducked and covered her head but the two men weren't as lucky. Monk and john ran over, checking on the two men who seemed to be bleeding.

Ángelita calmly walked over and gently helped Ayako to her feet while Monk and John helped the two men. She walked the priestess back to the base. As the ambulance drove away Kuroda was entertaining herself by insulting Ayako.

"No need to worry?" The bespectacled girl asked sarcastically. "You didn't properly eliminate the spirits. The school principal got hurt because of you." Kuroda sneered which caused Ayako to glare.

"Smug ass bitch." Ángelita growled. "Ayako didn't cause the glass to break. She didn't directly harm the principal. She didn't take the glass and try to stab him. Ayako didn't do anything."

"Yes, that was an accident." Masako said, agreeing with the Spanish woman.

"But I know I got rid of them..." Ayako said.

"But I'm not saying you weren't successful at exorcising them," Masako said. "But that there weren't any spirits here in the first place." The three continued to argue and Ángelita would have joined in but the others came in, distracting her.

"I wonder if it was a coincidence?" John said as he, Monk, Mai and Kazuya walked back into base.

"Could there really be spirits here? Something that's too strong for a miko-san to get rid of?" Monk asked.

"Then there should be more reaction caught by the cameras." Kazuya said.

 _'At least Noll isn't blinded by the stories.'_ Ángelita thought to herself. _'Why is it that common sense isn't so common anymore?'_ She suddenly heard Mai gasp.

"What's wrong?" Kazuya asked.

"In the classroom where we put the camera; there was no chair in the middle of the room, was there?" Mai asked. Everyone looked at the monitors.

"Did anyone go to the room in the far west corner of the building?" Kazuya asked.

"No..?" Mai said.

Kazuya pushed a button and began to rewind the footage. He re-winded it back to when the glass in the doors broke. He then hit play. There was the sound of the glass breaking, followed by screams and then there was the sound of something being dragged across the floor. Slowly, a small wooden chair slid into view. Mai, Monk and John all gasped, eyes wide with shock. Admittedly, Ángelita couldn't explain that but it would take more than one unexplainable incident to convince her.

"What's happening?" Mai asked, nervousness clear in her voice.

"It's a poltergeist. I believe the word means 'loud spirits'." Kuroda said. "Poltergeists make objects move, or they make noises." She said with an air of superiority. "Isn't that right. Shibuya-san?"

Not in the mood to deal with Kuroda's massive ego since it gave her a massive headache, Ángelita sighed and got up. "I'm gonna go have a smoke if anyone needs me. ~Shiki, ¡Ven! ~" The white German shepherd immediately got up and fallowed his master downstairs and outside.

Ángelita breathed in the spring breeze, the scent of cherry blossoms and let the wind blow through her hair. She took out a Seven Star cigarette and lit it. She took a puff and then pulled out her phone.

Ángelita: "Lin. Hurry up and get your crippled ass out of the hospital! I'm here with a bunch of other people too stupid to tell the difference between a poltergeist and a creaky old building ready to collapse! ~Ayúdame~!"

She didn't have to wait for long before the ridiculously tall man texted back.

Lin: "You think you're miserable? I'm here in the hospital with a sprained leg in a hospital bed that's too small for me, there's an intern that keeps talking to me even though I've been glaring at her for the past five minutes and my cast itches! Also, you know I don't speak Spanish. Néih góng mātyéh wá?"

Ángelita: "And you know I don't speak your middle kingdom language!"

Lin: "I'm getting out on Monday night."

Ángelita: "Good and I'll bust you out if the doctors try to keep you. See ya."

She was pulled away from her phone when she heard a scream and a crash. She whirled around and saw Masako fall and land on the ground, out of the second story.

"Hara!" Ángelita yelled and ran over and already was dialing for an ambulance. Shiki ran ahead and began to sniff the medium over. She quickly knelt down next to the young medium. "Can you hear me?" The medium slowly opened her eyes.

"Yes." She said softly with a wince. Shiki continued to sniff over the medium before sitting down next to her.

"Try not to move, if there's been any damage to your back you should try and keep as still as possible." Ángelita said calmly before bringing her phone to her ear. "Hello? I need an ambulance." She gave the operator the address and then proceeded to calmly wait with the medium. It didn't take long for an ambulance to arrive. The responding men carefully lifted Masako onto a stretcher.

"What happened?" Kazuya said, walking out to the ambulance.

"It was my own stupidity. It was just an accident. There are no spirits." Masako said and with that she was loaded into the ambulance and driven away.

Ángelita put out her cigarette and then she and Shiki followed Kazuya up back to the base. Everyone was waiting anxiously. Kazuya then gave his report. "A weak veneer was attached to the west wall to protect the room from wind and rain. When Hara-san leaned on it, the veneer before and she fell through."

"She's just being stubborn. I still think there are spirits here." Ayako said.

"Spirits that you couldn't completely get rid of, which means...they are more dangerous." Monk said.

"Then it's your fault that Masako was injured!" Mai said, turning to Ayako.

"What!?" Ayako asked angrily.

"She didn't push her out of the building Mai." Ángelita said.

Don't jump to conclusions!" Kazuya said. "As far as I can deduce from the tape, it was a legitimate accident."

"Then..! There may be a logical explanation to all of this... But because the accidents continue, should the building still be considered haunted or cursed? How did those objects move anyway? That's what doesn't make sense!" Mai said loudly.

"That's exactly right..." Kazuya said with more patience than Ángelita had at the moment. "There's something fishy here that doesn't make sense. There's absolutely no reaction on any of the equipment... The temperature and ion counts are stable. The amount of static is normal. All of my data shows absolute normally."

"But what about the Miko-san getting locked up? And me getting attacked? The video getting cut off, glass broken, blackboard cracking...what about the moving chair!?" Kuroda said loudly.

"Does no one here know how to use their inside voice?" Ángelita asked Shiki. The dog simply made a grumbling noise. Deciding that it wasn't worth listening to anymore, the Hispanic woman put her headphones. Much better. She ignored the others as they began talking; something about John giving exorcism a shot but she ignored all of them.

She cleaned through a few songs by Five Finger Death Punch and was sitting calmly by the window in one of the old desks. Suddenly Shiki started snarling and growling. Confused, she paused her music and took off her headphones. Over the monitors it sounded like a crackling sound underneath John's prayers. Like wood breaking. Mai turned up the volume.

"A rapping sound?" Mai muttered.

"Thank you Captain Obvious." Ángelita said sarcastically but Mai ignored her.

Ángelita noticed the ceiling beginning to crack at the same time the young temporary assistant did. Mai took off. Quickly Ángelita followed, her training as a soldier taking over. Shiki immediately took off after his master. Even though Mai had a head start, Ángelita easily ran ahead. As she ran up the stairs a memory suddenly flashed by in her head.

 _Gunshots._

 _Screaming and yelling._

 _An explosion and then the sound of a building caving in._

With her heart pounding in her ears she bolted up the stairs as fast as she could. Ángelita whipped the door open. Mai appeared behind her shoulder.

"John! It's dangerous! Get out!" Mai yelled.

"Ángelita-san? Mai-san?" John said, turning to the two women.

"Hurry! The ceiling is falling..!" Mai said.

Not about to waste any more time she quickly ran forward and tackled John to the floor. They rolled and Ángelita landed on top just as the ceiling caved.

"JOHN! ÁNGELITA!" Mai screamed.

The veteran made sure to shield John from the falling debris. A few planks of wood landed on her back but the worst landed on the floor away from her and John. Once she was sure nothing else would fall Ángelita took a few shaky breaths as she tried to shake her mini flashback before looking down at the priest.

"You okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, thanks to you." John said.

Shiki ran up to his master and sniffed her over before gently licking her cheek. "~Don't worry boy, I'm okay~." She said, gently patting her dogs head. She got up and helped the priest up.

* * *

By the time the others came up the full moon was already high in the sky. They needed flashlights to see at that point during the night.

"What a disaster." John said, shining his flashlight over the debris. "If Ángelita hadn't pushed me out of the way, I would've been crushed."

"I think that's enough for tonight." Kazuya said. "Mai, you may go home now."

"Really!?" Mai said, brightening up.

"Yeah, I'm going to get out of here, too." Ayako said. "While I'm still alive."

"Why don't you just admit you're scared?" Kuroda said with a sneer. Ayako turned away angrily.

"Me too. We've all had a long day. We should all go now." Monk said.

Ángelita ignored everyone and stood next to Kazuya with a cigarette in her mouth. She would wait for whatever he decided.

* * *

 _Gunshots...heart pounding...running...screaming...cheering...death..._

The next morning Ángelita awoke with a start. Panting and with a little bit of sweat on her brow she took a look outside before wincing at the sun. Her neck was sore from sleeping in the car. Shiki was sleeping in the passenger seat. With a massive yawn she sluggishly opened the door. Not even looking behind her she prodded Shiki into the waking world.

"~Come on boy.~" Ángelita mumbled. The white German Shepherd sluggishly followed her out of the car. Her hair was a mess and she had bags under her eyes. She needed some coffee, and her morning smoke.

Rubbing the sleep from her eyes she stepped out of the van, Shiki hopping out right after her. Walking around towards the front of the car she saw that Mai was walking towards the truck. Yawning she waved lazily to the girl before taking out a cigarette, trying to shake the memories that came with the nightmare. Kazuya was sleeping in the back of the truck with his coat being used as a blanket.

"Na-ru! You're going to catch a cold, sleeping here!" Mai said.

"Mai..." Kazuya groaned, pushing his bangs out of his face. "What are you doing here this early in the morning?"

Mai blushed bright red. "Ah, ah-early in the morning? It's already past 11 A.M." Mai said. "Ah, would you like a cup of coffee!?"

"Sure." Kazuya said.

"One for me too." Ángelita said.

Mai returned with their coffee a few minutes later. "Did you find out anything last night?" Mai asked.

"Yeah." Kazuya said, taking a sip of coffee.

"Really!?" Mai gasped.

"Hey, what's happening in the lab!?" Monk called out as he, Ayako and John walked over.

"What's going on, little boy?" Ayako asked. "You're already packing up?"

"You're right." Ángelita said, taking a drag from her cigarette as she leaned up against the truck.

"You must be kidding!?" Mai said. "Why!?"

"Big mouth." Kazuya muttered, causing Ángelita to snicker. "I have decided this case is closed."

"Did you exorcise?" Monk asked.

"No, I didn't." Kazuya said, handing several papers over to Monk.

"What's this?" The older man asked.

"A level scale graph. The building sank more than 0.2 inches just overnight." Kazuya said.

"What!?" Monk said loudly.

"Land subsidence." Ángelita said.

"That's it!?" Ayako said. "The psychic phenomenon was caused by this?"

"It's called subsidence." Kazuya said.

"Yeah, so what?" Ayako scoffed. "You think subsidence is to blame for the phenomena we experienced?"

"The whole development was built on top of damp ground." Kazuya said as he pulled up another chart. "Based on the number of wells that I-"

"We." Ángelita cut in, smirking with her cigarette between her lips when Kazuya glared at her.

"That we checked directly underneath the school there's a big water vein running through. There are two other wells, but when we checked for the amount of water i them they were both empty. So that's what's going on." Kazuya glared a little bit at Ángelita every time he was forced to say we. He said we because he knew she would interrupt him if he said I. He just wanted to get through his explanation without too many interruptions.

"What is going on?" Mai asked. "Explain please."

"What I'm saying is the foundation is weak because this structure was built on damp soil. In addition, an underground water vein is half dried out. All of these factors are causing the land to shift and settle." Kazuya explained before pulling out a map. "This area is the most severely affected. The settling is progressing more rapidly on one side of the building, and as a result various parts of the building are starting to distort and deform."

"Then that's what would have caused the chair to move and the ceiling to collapse." Monk said.

"Precisely. The classroom floor on the west side is three inches lower than the one on the east side." Kazuya said.

"Three inches... that's about 7.5 centimeters. That's a big gap." Monk said.

"And that rapping sound..?" Ayako asked.

"Wood shifting as the building moves." Ángelita said, taking one last drag before snuffing out her cigarette.

"It wasn't a rapping. It was the sound of the building creaking as it sank." Kazuya said, standing up. "The area around this building should be declared unsafe to enter. Sooner or later this building will collapse."

"Can we get some food after this is over?" Ángelita asked, feeling her stomach rumble. Kazuya sighed in annoyance but nodded. He was probably hungry too.

* * *

"That's fine..." Kuroda said as Kazuya and Ángelita began packing up the last of the equipment. "But it doesn't explain the day I was attacked!"

"Perhaps... It was a floating spirit that likes to follow you around." Kazuya said condescendingly.

"So what are you going to do now, Naru? Are you going home?" Mai asked, tying to change the subject.

"Yes, I finished my assignment." Kazuya said.

"Ah..." Mai said. "Yeah, you're right." She said while playing with some of her hair.

"I still think that there are spirits here." Kuroda said.

"No, there aren't. The research results have proven that there's nothing here." Kazuya said.

"It may just be that you can't perceive it." Kuroda said scathingly.

"Then you should exorcise it yourself, I've decided that my job is done, so I'm leaving." Kazuya said, clearly done with Kuroda.

"Didn't you say early you had enough power to call a spirit to haunt Ayako?" Ángelita said, smirking when the high school girl tensed up. "You got the power to do that, surely you have the power to drive these spirits away?" She said mockingly, waving her fingers like one would when teasing a child about a ghost. Kuroda turned away in embarrassment.

"Oh well, I feel like the dream is ending." Mai said, playing with her hands. This caused even Kazuya to look up in confusion.

"What do you mean?" Kazuya asked. Ángelita didn't really care. She just wanted to get packed up, get paid, get out and get lunch.

"Can we go get lunch after this?" Ángelita said, completely ruining the moment. "I didn't have dinner last night cause I was helping you go well hunting. If I don't eat something soon I'm going to have to eat someone." She said, done with all the stalling and ready to eat.

Suddenly, they head the faint sound of glass breaking. Turning they saw the glass streak with cracks. Kuroda, who's face was about two inches from the glass gasped. All the glass spontaneously shattered. The girl screamed and ducked, covering her face with her arms.

"Mai...get out!" Kazuya yelled.

"Kuroda!" Mai screamed in concern as she ran towards the fallen girl.

Then banging sounds started. Shiki was barking like crazy and snarling. The building began to shake. At first Ángelita thought the building was collapsing, but the knocking sound were to spaced out for it to be debris falling.

"What...is that...?" Mai asked. "Is it collapsing." Kazuya was too stunned to move.

"What the hell are you all standing around here for!?" Ángelita yelled. "Kazuya let's go! Shiki!" She commanded before grabbing Kazuya's wrist and pulling him towards the exit. "Come on you idiots!" She yelled when the others wouldn't fallow.

"The doors!" Mai gasped. The sliding doors began to slide back and forth, slamming into each other.

Not having the patience to try and time her escape, Ángelita whipped out her twin pistols and unleashed a hailstorm of bullets on both doors. It didn't take long for the panels to go flying off their hinges while looking like swiss cheese.

"Let's go!" She yelled.

* * *

She just laid there on the grass once they got out. Ángelita was shaking a little, staring up at the sky as she took deep breaths to try and calm herself.

' _Damn PTSD.'_ She thought angrily to herself. Just like when the ceiling almost caved in on John she was having the same flashback. She didn't listen to the conversation going on around her. She felt Shiki walk over and lay his head down on her stomach in an effort to comfort her. Absentmindedly, she ran her fingers through his soft white fur.

She could still hear the building caving in around her, the gun shots, people screaming in both Spanish and Farsi and the screams of dying soldiers. Closing her eyes tightly she struggled to calm both her memories and her erratic heartbeat.

"Ángelita, come on." Kazuya's frustrated voice reached her ears. Well, time to figure out what they were going to do next.

Ángelita got up off the grass, brushed off her clothes and followed Kazuya, Shiki trailing behind them.

 **Hey guys. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please review; I need to know what you guys think of the story. Because I know I'll forget later on I'm gonna put this phrase at the end as a reminder for stuff to come later on in the series. Tiān shǐ.**


	3. Evil Spirits All Over: 3

**I own nothing but my OC's. By the way, I don't know how yen works so any money will be in American money.**

 **Plain text= Japanese**

 **~text ~= Spanish. Since I don't speak Spanish that will be used for long conversations but I do know a little Spanish so I will write some words in Spanish as well, unless of course someone wants to do the translations for me.**

 **Italics= Thoughts/Memories**

 **Bold Text= English**

 **Man, I wish I could draw my characters. I wish I could create my own covers for my fanfics but since I have 0 drawing skills I just find pictures off the internet that look similar.**

* * *

After Kazuya had time to calm down after his little 'tantrum', as Ángelita described it, he had a chance to rethink the case. They were at a nearby Subway and were eating outside. Since a certain bodyguard wouldn't shut up about eating lunch and refused to let Kazuya go anywhere else he had no choice but to comply. Ángelita was leaning back in her chair while she munched on her Italian B.M.T.

Shiki was munching on some scraps of meat that Kazuya was feeding him from his Black Forest Ham sandwich. He actually did not eat meat because he practiced Qigong and a vegetarian diet was required. He was so deep in thought he must have ordered it without thinking and simply decided to feed the meat to Shiki. Ángelita was surprised when he made the mistake. The case must have really rattled him. Even though he didn't show it, but being wrong was something that really threw him off.

 **"So what are you going to do now, Noll?"** Ángelita asked, taking a bite of one of her potato chips.

 **"I'm not sure."** Oliver replied, speaking in English as well.

 **"Well we need to be overlooking something. I checked those wells with you myself and helped you take measurements. Maybe there's something else besides a rickety old building."** Ángelita said before taking another bite of her sandwich. **"There was a lot of poltergeist activity, maybe there really is one there."**

 **"That would explain the activity that happened while we were packing."** Oliver muttered to himself, tossing a bit of ham to Shiki who eagerly snapped it out of the air. Oliver had that look in his eyes like he was quickly solving a puzzle. Like you were stuck in that one spot but once you got past it, all the pieces fell into place.

 **"Noll, what are you thinking?"** Ángelita asked, smirking.

 **"I'm thinking, tomorrow we have an experiment to conduct involving hypnotic suggestion."** Oliver said before taking a bite of his sandwich that now had no meat in it.

 **"Alright then."** Ángelita said before taking a sip of root-beer and petting Shiki.

* * *

The next day, Ángelita and Kazuya were standing in the principal's office. Everyone was in the office, sitting on folding chairs, Even Masako, who had recently gotten out of the hospital. They were now just now waiting for Kuroda and Mai to be brought over from class. Shiki was sniffing around the office, looking at everything and everyone. There was a knock at the door and Mai poked her head through.

"Excuse me..." She said politely before noticing Kazuya. She looked a little surprised to see him. "Naru!?" She said in surprise.

"Please sit down." The principal said from behind his desk.

"Now everyone who was involved in the incident is here." Kazuya said. "One moment please." He said as Ángelita closed the curtains to block out any outside light.

Now with the room shrouded in darkness Kazuya turned on the light. It slowly grew brighter, bathing the room in a red light before slowly going out and then repeating the process. Kazuya then began his hypnotism session. Ángelita simply stood in the corner, scratching Shiki behind his ears. Kazuya laced the suggestion of a chair moving on the second floor of the building. Ángelita watched as the people's faces got sleepy and relaxed. Mai looked about ready to nod off right in the chair. Once the suggestion was done Ángelita walked over to the window and flung open the curtains. Mai and the others winced as the light invaded the room.

"Very good, thank you everyone." Kazuya said. Monk got up, muttering about being sleepy.

"Let's get out of here so we can go eat." Ángelita said, putting Shiki's leash on.

"We just had breakfast half an hour ago." Kazuya said irritably.

"Exactly. Half an hour later I'm hungry." She replied.

"I feel like half my budget is spent on feeding you." He sighed as the two of them walked out.

"And all of my time is spent making sure you're stupid ass doesn't get shot." She replied with a smirk. He glared irritably but didn't say anything. Arguing with her was pointless; she was one of the most stubborn women he had ever met. She also had a gun and it was stupid to argue with a woman who would shoot someone for a Hersey's chocolate bar.

"Naru!" A familiar voice called out. Looking back the two saw Mai running to catch up with them. "Where were you yesterday?"

"I-"

"We." Ángelita interrupted.

"We had to run some errands." Kazuya said, glaring at the cheeky Spanish woman next to him. "I heard that you were hurt." He said, turning to Mai who began to walk beside him.

"Oh it's nothing. So, what was that all about?" The high-schooler asked.

"Don't you have to get to class?" Kazuya asked.

"Who cares?" Mai asked.

"I see. No wonder you don't know anything." Kazuya said with a smirk. Mai stopped and glared at him with an irritated growl. Ángelita managed to hold back a snicker.

"By the way, I need to ask you something." Mai said as the two reached the front doors. "You came back to the building last night, didn't you?"

"The old building? No, but I went there just a little while ago. Why?" Mai seemed far more confused than Kazuya.

"Oh, it's nothing. Don't worry about it!" She said waving her hands around in a flustered manner. "Well then, I have to get back to class! See you later, bye-bye!"

Ángelita and Kazuya didn't respond they simply walked out the door.

* * *

Mai met up with them again later while they were sitting out in the van. Well, Kazuya was sitting and Ángelita was nearby smoking a cigarette. Seven Star cigarettes, not bad but she still preferred the Fortuna brand from Spain. The cigarettes weren't that bad in Japan, but she couldn't say the same for the alcohol. Ángelita hated the beer, the wine and sake tasted like crap. The only thing she could have was whisky and even then she had to be really depressed to submit herself the whisky brands available in this country. Shiki was calmly sitting by her side, keeping a watchful eye on his surroundings. Kazuya was sitting in the back listening to any noise that the microphones might have picked up.

"Did you set up the tape recorder last night?" Kazuya asked, glancing up at Mai.

"Ah...yeah. I actually wanted to set up the video too but I couldn't figure it out..." Mai said, flushing in embarrassment.

"You did a good job. It sounds like we were able to record some useful things." Kazuya said. Mai blushed and stared at him. Eventually Kazuya looked back up and questioned it. "What's wrong?"

"Eh...ah...nothing..." She said, completely red faced. Ángelita snickered quietly at Mai's red face. It looked redder than her mother's favorite red dress. "Ah! I remember! That's the shoe rack! The thing that fell down! It felt warm. You said that if a poltergeist moved something it would feel warm."

"I'm glad you remembered that." Kazuya said, standing up.

"Oh...thanks." Mai said, rubbing the back of her head with a laugh of embarrassment. She stopped with the other teen held up some cables.

"Let's get our equipment set up." He said. Mai responded with a slightly disgruntled salute. Ángelita chuckled and put out her cigarette.

* * *

"What's this for?" Mai asked. They were in one of the classrooms and there was a small wooden chair in the center of a circle drawn with chalk. Ángelita didn't answer since she was busy putting the camera on the tripod.

"Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey... What's this?" Mai asked when she saw Kazuya working on another bit of technology. "Naru. Shibuya-sama. What is that?" Mai asked curiously.

"This is a radar..."

"You mean like on an airplane? What are we using one for?" Mai asked curiously.

"If I tell you, it won't work." Kazuya said calmly.

"But I'm your assistant..." Mai grumbled.

"No I can't." Kazuya said firmly. "I'll let you know tomorrow, but you can't ask me until then."

"This is part of Kazuya's plan." Ángelita said to Mai as she approached the girl after setting up the camera. "You're just gonna have to deal with it and wait until tomorrow."

Kazuya then picked up a hammer, causing Mai to flinch away in fear. _'Don't worry kid.'_ Ángelita thought to herself. _'Noll doesn't do that to people, and even if he did want someone hurt he would send me to do it.'_

"Cover up all of the windows in the lab with those veneer boards over there." Kazuya said.

Ángelita didn't say anything. She simply put her headphones on and started listening to Gabriel Iglesias's comedy stand up, Aloha Fluffy. A few times Ángelita had to really bite her tongue to keep from laughing as she and Mai worked on the boards. Given that Ángelita was much more athletic than Mai, she finished more boards faster than Mai did.

"Now would both of you please write your names on that board?" Kazuya said, offering the two ladies a black marker. Mai signed her name with the traditional Japanese characters and Ángelita wrote her name the way she always wrote it, no Japanese characters in sight.

"Ok, I signed the board that we nailed inside the window, too. What is this for?" Mai asked.

"Sign here, too." Kazuya said, taping a large sheet of white paper to the boards. "You can go home when you're done."

"HUH!?" Mai asked in shock.

Ángelita wasn't paying attention to that. Instead, she had a Cheshire grin on her face, full of mischievousness. The comedy special she was listening to had just given her the best idea. The best idea, for the most messed up prank that she would pull on Lin.

* * *

Had Lin been the talkative type, the only vocal response he would have given to Ángelita's little prank would have been, 'racist bitch!' But since he wasn't a chatty person and he was irritable already he settled for simply hitting the giggling woman on the back of the head with a clipboard before giving it back to Kazuya.

Ángelita didn't give a counterattack, partially because it wouldn't feel right beating up her temporarily crippled friend but mostly because she was trying so hard not to collapse from restrained laughter. She didn't have time to send her prank to him in the hospital last night since that was when he was getting out and he was already pretty tired. She decided to give it to him the next day. So she left it in the truck for him to find, and find it he did.

She had given him a gift basket. But not just any gift basket. This gift basket was filled with things that, stereotypically, a Chinese person might like or need. She had a driving manual, egg-rolls, fortune cookies, a calculator, a karate manual, chap-stick, a note asking him not to eat Shiki and a box of extra small condoms. She also addressed it to Jackie Chan.

Had it been anyone else Lin would have beaten them to a pulp, regardless of being in crutches. But Ángelita had been messing with him for three years now. He was used to it. Instead of the indignant rage he would have normally felt if it had been a stranger, he just felt irritation. Besides, she knew how proud he was of his heritage, she was rather proud of her own. She was just messing with him and he knew from experience it was easier to just take it in stride. Bing around her certainly made one develop a lot of patience and a thick skin. Lin scratched Shiki behind the ears when the white dog nudged his hand with his nose. Besides Ángelita, Shiki liked Lin the most.

Mai came around the corner, looking irritated and disheveled. It didn't look like the poor girl had gotten much sleep. When she noticed Lin she began to sweat nervously. Ángelita could practically smell her unease.

"You're early today." Kazuya said, looking up from his clipboard.

"I couldn't sleep because I was up all night thinking about the experiment we set up yesterday." Mai said.

"You'll have to wait a bit more, everyone will be here soon." Kazuya said before turning back to do something in the truck.

"Everyone? Even the Monk and Ayako, what for?" Mai asked. When Kazuya didn't respond Mai glared at his back irritably. "Are you feeling better?" Mai asked Lin with a nervous smile. Lin didn't respond, he simply glared at the much shorter girl. Mai glanced away with a look of fear and panic on her face.

Ángelita rolled her eyes in amusement. Lin was actually all bark and no bite. Despite the bruises she sometimes ended up with during their sparring sessions. But in Lin's defense Mai did get him landed in the hospital.

* * *

Once everyone had arrived they were standing outside the boarded up room.

"So what's the plan for today Naru?" Monk asked. When Lin glanced at the other man, eyes narrowing at the suspiciously familiar nickname Ángelita gently touched his arm, letting him know that Oliver's identity was still a secret. Lin nodded and simply kept filming with the video camera in his hand.

"Yes, let's hope for your sake you don't embarrass yourself yet again." Ayako said in her usual snobby tone.

"Now would you two confirm that the paper you signed yesterday hasn't been tampered with?" Kazuya asked Mai and Ángelita.

"Yeah, okay." Mai said. "Look's good to me. What about you Ángelita?"

"It's fine." She said.

"Alright." Kazuya said before handing Ángelita a crowbar.

He could've done it himself but he knew how much Ángelita loved breaking things and decided to let her do it. She would only whine about it if he didn't let her anyways. Smirking, the raven haired woman eagerly went to work tearing off the boards, much to Mai confusion while everyone else just watched. Once everyone could look in, Mai gasped.

"Chair's moved." Ángelita said without emotion, simply stating a fact.

"Indeed it has." Kazuya replied, taking a look at his computer.

"So what exactly does this prove?" Ayako asked while Ángelita lit a cigarette.

"Care to explain?" Monk asked.

Kazuya didn't respond right away since he was looking at something. Kuroda seemed to take this opportunity to irritate Ángelita more than she already had. "You know that's bad for you." She said, looking at the cigarette in between the older woman's lips with distaste.

"Oh this right here?" Ángelita asked, taking the cigarette out of her mouth. "My grandmother lived to be a hundred years old."

"Smoking?" Kuroda asked doubtfully. Everyone else in the room looked at Ángelita with a similar expression.

"Minding her own damn business." Ángelita said with a glare before taking another drag and blowing it in the girl's face. She coughed and glared at her. The rest of the crew sweat dropped. As expected from the crass and rough former soldier.

"I'd like to thank you all for your cooperation." Kazuya said. "I'll be finishing this investigation today."

"Let me get this straight. Are you claiming to have solved the case again?" Ayako asked.

"That's exactly what I'm saying." Kazuya replied.

"The ground sinking?" Mai asked.

"Yes, all of the issues that the principal originally brought to my attention can be explained by ground subsidence." He explained.

"Yeah? Then what about the disturbances we saw the day before yesterday?" Monk asked.

"Now those were from a poltergeist."

"You're not making any sense." Monk growled.

"What else can he do? We all know that he can't exorcise it. Right?" Ayako asked, raising a brow.

"There's no need for exorcism in this circumstance. Watch this and you'll see." Kazuya said, gesturing towards his computer.

Everyone gathered around to peer at the screen. The chair sat in the center of the chalk circle. Suddenly it began to shake. Mai, John and Ayako gasped as they looked at the screen in shock. It continued to shake before sliding backwards and then toppling over. Everyone, except for the obvious, gasped at the footage.

"What was that?" Mai asked as she nervously clung to Monk's arm.

"Well it's obviously a poltergeist." Monk said.

"Humans are to blame for over half of reported poltergeists every year." Kazuya explained.

"You mean like a prank?" Mai asked. "But no one could've gotten in there."

"True. We did seal off every entrance. I even had Ángelita and Mai sign their names on each panel so we could tell if someone had tampered with one." Kazuya said, explaining the experiment they had conducted last night.

"If someone did try to break in there is almost no chance they could have replicated my signature." Ángelita said.

"This only proves that I've been right all along!" Kuroda said.

Ángelita glared at the school girl with as much irritation as she could muster. _'For the love of God, SHUT THE FUCK UP!'_ She screamed in her mind.

"I placed a hypnotic suggestion into everyone's mind yesterday that this chair would move before we met here this evening." Kazuya explained.

"In the principal's office." Mai said in realization.

"So far this method has never failed me, and I have no reason to believe it will today." Kazuya said, leaning on the chair.

"Yeah but, that still doesn't change the fact that no one got in here." Mai said.

"Poltergeists are a form of latent mental powers, often by people who have an unconscious craving for attention. When stress is introduced a self-defense type mechanism reacts in the brain. Hypnotic suggestions can become a reality in these types of situations." Kazuya said, his eyes narrowing towards the culprit. It wasn't long before everyone else's eyes zeroed in on Kuroda.

"So you're saying...that I'm responsible for this?" Kuroda asked with a soft voice.

"From the moment I met you I knew you were trying to impress me." Kazuya said, walking up to Kuroda. "For example, you've claimed to have seen spirits that still remained here from during the war. However, there is no evidence of this area being bombed during the war, or of this building being used as a hospital, in fact there was never a hospital built on this land period. That means you were either mistaken, or intentionally lying to me and the others."

"I'm not a liar." Kuroda said, her voice sounding less firm.

"At first I thought you were just pretending to be spiritually sensitive. So when things started happening that could only be explained as a poltergeist, I became quite perplexed. My scientific experiments and Miss Hara's psychic readings both came up clean. We determined there were no spirits. That means that the haunting was of human origin." Kazuya said, turning back to Kuroda.

"Poltergeists are often caused by children in their early teens. There are numerous cases involving teenage girls in particular. It's a form of psychokinesis that can occur during periods of great stress." Kuroda was beginning to shake, trying to contain her emotions. "Ever since middle school you were known amongst your peers for being sensitive to spirits. But once it was proven by me that the strange phenomenon here was due to ground subsidence you naturally lost whatever faith you held in your own psychic abilities."

"This caused you immense anxiety because it went against your own beliefs. And although you could see the merits of my evidence, you still wanted to believe the spirits were to blame. You told yourself there was no other way; you simply couldn't face the truth." With that the barrier broke and Kuroda began crying.

"You had no idea you did it, wow." Monk said, looking at the young girl in pity.

"I firmly believe that you're a latent psychic Kuroda." Kazuya said.

"And that means..?" Mai asked.

"A latent psychic is someone who has supernatural abilities. She's not aware of it but she has some level of PK." Kazuya said. Kuroda began to look up from her hands. "I'll just say this for your sake Mai, PK is short for psychokinesis."

"Thank you, I'm so grateful." Mai said sarcastically.

"She believed that there had to be spirits present in the old school house in order to attract the attention of those around her. In order to be who she was." Kazuya said.

"You know, I think I can understand; it's natural really." Mai said, causing everyone to look at her. "Think about it. Everyone wants to believe they're special in some way, a desire to stand out from the crowd and be unique as a person. It could be a talent or just the hope that you're recognized as an honest and kind human being." Mai said.

Ángelita glanced down at the girl before taking a long drag from her cigarette. _'She sounds just like my mother.'_ She thought to herself. A tiny, almost unnoticeable smile graced her features. _'Just like with my mother, we may fight over the nature of humans and when to exercise mercy or justice, but in the end we balance each other out.'_ If she was honest, Ángelita wouldn't mind keeping Mai around, as irritating as she could be.

"In your case Kuroda, I would imagine it's your ability to communicate with spirits." Mai said. Kuroda looked at her in shock and her fellow classmate giggled. Kuroda chuckled, a small blush on her face.

"Does that explanation satisfy everyone?" Kazuya asked, turning to the others.

"Not quite." Ayako said, stepping forward. "According to that account her elevated stress levels came after you gave your little theory on ground subsidence or whatever it was. What about me getting stuck in that room or the video being erased? Explain that!" She said angrily.

"The reason you became trapped in that room is simple." Kazuya said, reaching into his coat pocket. "There was a nail sticking out from the floor." He said, holding up said nail.

"That's it?" Ayako asked incredulously.

"I had noticed it that day but I didn't mention it because I didn't feel it was necessary at the time." Kazuya explained.

"Then...someone did that on purpose?" She then glared at Kuroda. "Was it you?!" She snapped with an accusatory glare.

"You were just trying to get back a little at Miss Matsuzaki. After all she had verbally attacked you outside just moments before." Kazuya explained.

"Then what about the video?" Ayako asked.

"The videotape was intentionally erased. When you became trapped we all left the base to rush to your aid. There was plenty of time for someone to slip in here and erase the tape without ever being seen." Kazuya said.

"This is ridiculous." Ayako said.

Ángelita couldn't help but agree. Interfering with a company's work and erasing property that belonged to them was an annoyingly far way to go just for some attention. What did it matter anyway? In the real world no one would give a fuck about who you were in high school. If you dated the quarterback or if you could see spirits, no one would care. The only reason why Ángelita didn't make her opinion known was because she just wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible. She stomped out her cigarette.

"What are we supposed to do now?" Monk asked. "The principal hired us all to get this place ready so they can continue construction."

"I plan to report the following story to the principal. The old school house was haunted by those who had died here during the war. They've all been exorcised and the structure is now clean of any paranormal activity. That sound okay, Kuroda?" Kazuya asked.

The high school girl looked surprised but she nodded.

"That's very kind of you Naru but will you really lie to the principal. He deserves to know the real story." Masako said.

"Kuroda's doing an excellent job suppressing her feelings now. I don't think it's necessary to embarrass her any further." Kazuya said.

Ángelita barely managed to not burst out laughing when Ayako suddenly came onto Kazuya. "I had no idea you were no sensitive. Do you have a girlfriend?"

"I'm not sure I fully understand your question." Kazuya deadpanned.

"I'm saying I wouldn't mind getting to know you better, even though you are quite young." She replied, looking him up and down.

"Okay." Ángelita sighed before walking over and pulling out some handcuffs. She then handcuffed Ayako. "You are under arrest for pedophilia." Ángelita smirked and didn't respond to Ayako's indignant squawk or any of the other's laughter. "You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."

"Before you're carted off to prison Miss Matsuzaki I'm afraid I must decline your offer, I'm too used to looking at myself in the mirror." Kazuya smirked as the others finally burst into uproarious laughter, Ángelita included.

"Let's get serious and decide who's going to take credit for this job!" Ayako snapped, blushing.

"Everyone contributed equally. Are we all okay with that?" Kazuya asked. The others nodded.

"And Mai." Kazuya said. The young girl walked up to him.

"I already know boss." She said with her usual smile.

"Lin, let's start breaking camp." Kazuya said, turning towards his real assistant.

"Right." He nodded.

"Your crippled ass better not be thinking about moving monitors or anything like that." Ángelita said sternly, thinking that was simply an easy way for Lin to hurt himself even more.

"Could you at least un-cuff me!?" Ayako asked with a large tic mark in her forehead.

"Not with that attitude." Ángelita huffed.

* * *

Once everyone had left, Ángelita was helping Kazuya finish packing up.

 **"You certainly liked her."** Lin observed, standing around with nothing to do.

 **"I was about ready to knock her teeth out with the crowbar."** Ángelita growled in irritation as she put the crowbar in the truck. She then tried to calm herself by petting Shiki. **"You know Noll; I don't think simply wanting attention excuses her from being giant pain in the ass who messed with our equipment."**

 **"Like you said, I just want to get this done as soon as possible."** Kazuya said. Ángelita rolled her eyes. Even though he tried to hide it, Noll was much more softhearted than he came across.

* * *

A few days later, apparently Kazuya was hiring Mai as a part timer. That wasn't Ángelita concern. Kazuya could hire whoever, he didn't take on employees lightly so he must have had a good reason. Ángelita was much more interested in what she found on her side of the office she shared with Lin. Kazuya and Lin were talking in the main room when Ángelita stepped out.

"Lin..." She drawled; her voice tainted with amusement and a hint of irritation.

"Yes?" He asked.

"What is this?" She asked with a massive grin and a tic mark on her forehead. She was holding a large pink, yellow and blue horse piñata that had a sombrero on its head and a stereotypical Mexican mustache on its face. Ángelita hadn't even looked inside it and she could already smell tacos, nachos and burritos.

Lin just smirked.


	4. Doll House: 1

**I own nothing but my OC's. By the way, I don't know how yen works so any money will be in American money.**

 **Plain text= Japanese**

 **~text ~= Spanish. Since I don't speak Spanish that will be used for long conversations but I do know a little Spanish so I will write some words in Spanish as well. Unless of course someone wants to do the translations for me.**

 **Italics= Thoughts/Memories**

 **Bold Text= English**

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:** **Also you guys told me you liked Lin and Ángelita pranking each other. Don't worry, there are plenty more pranks to come. I would also like a Beta Reader. Lin is a very difficult character to write when he is in the spotlight so I would like to make sure he's in character.**

 **I would like to address some concerns some people might have about my OC and future chapters. These are just general concerns anyone would have for an OC and some concerns for my OC in particular.**

 **1\. She may become a Mary Sue.**

 **My friends, she may look pretty but she is a sarcastic, blunt, pessimistic and sometimes rude woman with severe anger issues who smokes, pranks, gambles and drinks. Some people would say she has more flaws then perks.**

 **2\. She may seem to powerful.**

 **That's only on the street. In a paranormal situation she is pretty much useless when it comes to getting rid of ghosts. She has no powers or anything. But if she were going up against a person she could break both their kneecaps easily.**

 **3\. She doesn't do anything on the team.**

 **No, she pretty much helps them unload and look around places.**

 **4\. The story focuses too much on her.**

 **Since she doesn't really do things on cases she will think about her life outside of this, other friends and other hobbies she enjoys. Her life doesn't revolve around SPR, or at least her social life doesn't.**

 **5\. Lin and Ángelita are bonding too fast.**

 **They have known each other for a couple years prior to this. They haven't just met and they know each other pretty well. It will be a while before they get together romantically, for now, they're pretty much bros.**

 **6.** **Ángelita is always getting places first.**

 **Not only is she the most physically fit out of all of the team members, but she also has a dog that will sense things before she does. She may be able to get places faster but that doesn't necessarily mean she'll be able to do anything about it.**

* * *

"...Wow. What a big house..!" Mai said, looking up at the large western style home.

Ángelita watched the young girl and Naru disappear while Lin drove her and the equipment around back to park the truck. Shiki was sitting in the back seat. The drive up had been interesting. Lin drove, Ángelita rode shotgun, Naru and Mai sat in the back with Shiki in between them. Mai had gotten bored quite easily. Lin didn't talk, Naru was reading and Ángelita was listening to music and smoking out the window. At least Shiki could entertain her a little bit. With soft white fur and big blue eyes, Mai couldn't resist the large dog.

On a different note, Lin had finally found out why everyone was calling Oliver Naru. He had actually chuckled when he found out what the nickname meant. Naru the Narcissist. It was almost scarily accurate. Ángelita couldn't help but smile when Lin chuckled. It was a rare treat to see the man laugh. Just as it was to see him express emotion, speak without being spoken or wear casual clothes. They were rare moments that had to be seen to be believed.

"So do you think the house is haunted?" Ángelita asked as she took off her headphones and rested them on her neck. Lin was not the talkative type, especially not with strangers, but once you wore down his walls, (or attacked them with an ax) he was slightly more open to conversation.

"It's a little soon for conclusions." Lin said but he glanced at her as they parked. He knew she simply wanted an excuse to make her opinion known. On the team she went into each case as a skeptic. Ángelita was skeptical by nature and she also did not have any psychic powers. She couldn't sense spirits, preform cleansings, exorcisms or cast spells. But then again, living with Naru and Lin without going insane could be considered a power.

"Based on the activity she came to us with; doors opening and closing could be a draft, I'm not sure how to explain furniture rattling but knocking sounds could be the house settling, maybe a branch from one of these trees or there could be an animal of some kind trapped in the walls." Ángelita said before putting her cigarette out on the ashtray that was on the dashboard.

"Maybe." Was all Lin said.

The two of them got out and Ángelita opened the back door so Shiki could hop out. It was a really nice property, high fence and surrounded by trees. Hooking Shiki onto his leash, Ángelita opened the back of the truck and picked up some shelves. Lin picked up some more shelves and together they walked towards the front door. Lin opened the door. When Ángelita walked through the door she felt some resistance from the leash. Looking back she and Lin saw that Shiki was not going to go inside. He was staring down the hall and was not blinking. His ears were pricked and he seemed intently staring at something that only he could see. Maybe there was something in the house.

* * *

Once base was set up, they were all just making sure everything was working alright.

"Ok, the monitors are working now." Lin said, looking at the screens. Naru stood next to him and Ángelita was sitting in a swivel chair next to him while Shiki was sitting on the floor next to them. It had taken a fair amount of coaxing to get the dog inside but eventually he did as he was told.

"...Based on what Noriko-san said, I wonder if it's a poltergeist?" Mai wondered out loud. Lin and Ángelita glanced up at her.

"Oh!Hey part-timer, you sound like you're finally getting the hang of your job." A familiar voice asked. Ángelita turned and saw Monk standing in the doorway with Ayako.

"A real ghost-hunter! Making a big deal out of things as usual. It sounds to me more like a chirei (land spirit)." Ayako sighed. Ángelita couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Let me see." The shrine maiden said.

"I think it sounds like something a human would do." Mai said confidently, crossing her arms.

"Oh...really?" Ayako asked.

"Well, listen. Statistics show that humans cause fifty percent of poltergeist cases. And they're often caused by women with high stress." Mai said confidently. "In this household that would be...the woman who doesn't get along with her sister-in-law...most likely."

"You mean Noriko-san?" Monk asked.

"I see. Kana-san does seem like she could be difficult to deal with." Ayako said. Mai smiled smugly.

"Exactly what an amateur would think." Naru said, destroying Mai's little ego. "Poltergeists are most often caused by younger teens... Most likely... Adolescents. Noriko is twenty. That's too old to be an adolescent." Mai flinched, looking at Naru irritably. "True, women with strong psychic energy can _sometimes_ cause poltergeists but... we'll be able to determine that better when we test later this evening."

Mai proceeded to trudge out of the room in defeat. Ángelita couldn't help but snickered quietly.

"Aren't they so cute when they think they know everything?" She asked out loud. Monk and Ayako chuckled. Mai kind of reminded her of a rookie fresh out of the academy, they think they know everything and are so confident when in reality they didn't know shit. She found them adorable. She had a lot of them back in England. She had run security at the BSPR building. The fresh little security guards who thought they were the big dogs on campus. Ángelita was quick to stomp that delusion, with a hard kick to the chest in the gym.

* * *

In the evening, while Mai and Naru were busy working on the auto suggestion with the family, Ángelita amused herself by listening to her music while playing games on her phone back at base. Lin was watching the cameras as he always did and Shiki was laying on the floor. Ángelita started to think of her next prank on Lin. She was a die hard prankster, something she got from her father, and Lin was her favorite target. It was fun to get a reaction out of the taciturn man, whether it was amusement or anger, she loved either result. When they first met they did not like each other much, if at all. Well, two people with such different personalities were bound to butt heads.

Ángelita thought Lin was a workaholic with a stick up his ass, which he was. Lin thought Ángelita was an immature and temperamental psychopath who smoked more than worked, which was also true. They used to fight a lot but eventually Lin decided that completely ignoring her would be a better option. Ángelita didn't like Lin, but she hated when he outright ignored her. She understood that he was quiet but that just wasn't fair. So, she proceeded to prank him almost constantly, at least two or three times a week. This produced even more arguments, arguments that varied on each day, mostly about each other.

Ángelita was never working, all Lin did was work. She could never take anything seriously, he was a stick in the mud. She was immature and he could never take a joke. She got angry over nothing, he was a cold hearted bastard (pot meet kettle). The list went on. They also argued about completely stupid things. Simple debates between other people could end up in an hour long argument. Lin usually kept his voice level during their fights, Ángelita would definitely raise her voice. Before she could reflect on any specific arguments, Lin took off her headphones.

"Hey!" Ángelita said, glaring at Lin in irritation. Said man appeared very irritated as well.

"Could you please turn your music down? It's distracting and you can't even hear me." Lin said, holding up her headphones.

Ángelita smirked at him. "Oh, it bothers you, does it?" She asked in a sugary sweet voice. Lin nodded. Ángelita chuckled and snatched her headphones back. "Good." She said before putting them firmly back on her head. Lin countered by unplugging them from her phone and snatching it out of her hand. When she made a move to lunge for it, Lin put his foot in her chest and pushed her away. With his long legs it was a significant distance.

"What?" Ángelita asked in exasperation.

"I said, 'I need to use the restroom. Can you watch the cameras while I'm gone?'" Lin asked, his eyebrow twitching in irritation. He retracted his foot and she scooted back to her original position.

"Yeah, yeah. Sure, I got it." Ángelita said, before reaching out for her phone. Lin tucked the device into the breast pocket on his dress shirt.

"So that you actually do what I told you." Lin explained before getting up and leaving the room.

Ángelita then began her short spout of monitor duty, grumbling all the while. She really didn't like having her music taken away from her. Staring at the monitors in total silence was completely boring. Looking around the desk for something to entertain herself with, she spotted something that made her grin like a Cheshire Cat. Lin's phone. The password wouldn't be an issue, since she had seen Lin type it in before and had memorized it. With a smirk on her face and devious idea in mind, Ángelita picked it up and turned it on.

* * *

About half an hour later, it was five past nine and Mai and Naru had come back to base. Monk sat in a nearby chair, yawning. Ángelita was happily listening to her music once again after Lin gave her her phone back. She couldn't wait for him to discover the little prank she had left him.

Just when Ángelita was about to send Lin a random text so that he could see the prank, Shiki suddenly started barking. He had woken up out of a sound sleep and was on his feet, barking at the ceiling. Everyone turned to stare at the dog as it continued it's tirade of barking and growling.

"~What's wrong, boy?~" Ángelita asked, gently putting her hand on the white dog's head. Shiki just looked at her, made a little whining noise before continuing to bark at the ceiling.

"Any movement?" Naru asked, turning to the monitors. If Shiki, who was normally calm, was freaking out like he currently was, then something had to be going on.

"Nothing yet." Lin said.

"What are you doing here, Monk-san?" Mai asked, looking at the older man who yawned as he leaned back in his chair.

Suddenly Kana burst in, out of breath and very pale. "Come here, hurry!"

"What happened?" Naru asked.

"Just follow me!"

Ángelita ran upstairs, following Kana along with Mai, Monk, Ayako, Naru and Shiki. Kana flung the door to Ayami's room open when they reached the top of the stairs.

"We came upstairs so Ayami-chan could go to bed and this is what we saw!" Kana said, gesturing to the inside of the room. All of the furniture was moved a significant distance away from the walls and turned diagonally. Ayami just stood in the center of the room, holding Minnie and blinking innocently.

"Everything's turned diagonally...?!" Mai gasped.

 _'Again, thank you captain obvious.'_ Ángelita thought sarcastically.

"What's going on? Aren't you here to prevent this type of thing from happening?!" Kana yelled angrily.

"We're investigators lady, not gods." Ángelita said, crossing her arms. Kana didn't seem to appreciate the comment but before she could yell she was interrupted by Ayako.

"Are you sure Ayami didn't do it?" The shrine maiden asked.

"How could a little girl do this?!" Mai snapped, immediately coming to Ayami's defense.

"Right." Monk said as he knelt down, examining the carpet. "The firniture is still sitting on the carpet. I couldn't have even done it."

"May I inspect the room?" Naru asked.

"Go ahead! We'll be downstairs. Let's go, Ayami-chan." Kana said, grasping the little girl's hand.

"...I didn't do it." Ayami said, looking a little nervous.

"It's okay." Mai said, crouching down to Ayami's level with a bright smile. "I know you didn't."

"What do you think, Naru-chan?" Monk asked.

"I would love to meet the person capable of doing this." Naru said before looking at the carpet. "There's no trace of anything. It's impossible for a human to have done this."

Suddenly there was a scream downstairs. Ángelita got down faster by sliding down the railing with her hands and Shiki wasn't far behind. She reached Noriko in the living room she saw that everything was flipped upside down. Mai came in behind her and gasped in shock.

"Naru...The carpet... It's upside down too...with the furniture still on it!" Mai said.

"This is definitely a poltergeist." Monk said, scratching the back of his head.

"That's obvious. The question is who did it, right?" Ayako asked. "I'm sure it was a chirei! I'll get rid of the spirit for you by tomorrow. Just wait, you'll see. Good night." Ayako said as she turned around and left the room.

"Where does she get that much confidence?" Mai wondered out loud. Ángelita couldn't help but wonder the same thing.

"What's wrong?" Monk asked, turning toward Naru who had assumed his thinking pose. "You look like you're deep in thought. I something bothering you?"

"Don't you think the spirit reacted too quickly?" Naru asked. "Paranormal phenomenon usually don't happen when strangers are around. Normally they temporarily go into hiding when outsiders get too close."

"Is that so?" Mai asked.

"You see it on psychic phenomenon TV shows all the time." Monk said.

He began to explain more but Ángelita was getting bored and left the room, muttering about going outside for a cigarette. Shiki immediately followed her outside, glancing around corners as they went. Once out the front door, she leaned against the wall, pulled out a cigarette and lit it. She took a long drag as she stared out into the night, admiring the stars and clean air. Looking down she noticed that Shiki seemed a little calmer as well, now that he was out of the house. Sighing and looking down at the dog with a gentle smile she ruffled his ears. Looking back out into the night she smirked to herself in a self-deprecating way, thinking back on the furniture incidents.

"Well there goes my 'it's just an animal in the walls' idea."

* * *

The next day the vase from the hypnotic suggestion experiment had not moved. Ayako was upstairs in Ayami's room, preforming an exorcism. The little girl in question had slept in her aunt Noriko's room the other night and was supposed to do the same every night for the rest of the investigation. Ángelita was sitting in her swivel chair again, next to Lin. She was wearing some ripped up jeans, black tank top and a hoodie. She was feeling exceptionally lazy today. She had also just stepped out of the shower. she had towel dried her hair and was armed with a brush, ready for the battle that any woman with long, thick hair knew.

*fifteen minutes later*

"Why don't you just cut it?" Monk asked. He came into the room five minutes after Ángelita and was just hanging around. She had been brushing her hair for a long time and it was obvious, even to him, that she still wasn't done.

"I would never cut my hair." Ángelita said. She remembered when she used to have short hair, she looked like a yield sigh. Her hair was so thick and curly it made her head look like a triangle. At some point Monk left, maybe to go to the bathroom or something, and then she heard Lin clear his throat.

"What is this?" He asked, holding his phone out to her. The phone itself was fine but the background photo was a rather graphic picture of a penis. It would seem as though he had finally seen her prank. True, it may be considered a real step back in maturity but it was still a prank and it provided Ángelita with some amusement.

"It's your new background." Ángelita giggled, eyes glittering with mirth.

Lin sighed in exasperation before leaning back in her chair, obviously changing the background. "I will get you back for this you know."

"Let's see what you got ~ _Koujito~_." Ángelita said with a wink.

"You know I don't know what that means." Lin said, eyes scanning through various pictures on his phone, trying to find something for a new background.

"Which is exactly why I'll keep calling you that, ~ _Koujito~_." Ángelita replied with a smirk.

* * *

Later on that night, Ángelita was hanging out at base. She was standing by the open window, a cigarette between her lips and a nail file in hand. She was also petting Shiki with her left foot as she leaned against the wall. Some would say she was weird, Ángelita called in multitasking. Noriko had kindly asked, Ángelita not to smoke in the house once she found out about her habit but she said it was okay to smoke out the window. Mai returned with a clipboard and handed it to Naru, who was standing by the monitors.

"Here you go, Naru. I checked the temperature in each room." Mai said.

"Ayami-chan's was lower than the others." Naru said before turning to his laptop. He pulled up several graphs and charts. "The house isn't crooked and the floors aren't warped and the floors seem to be very stable."

Shiki lifted his head and sniffed the air before he took off down the hall.

"I got it." Ángelita said before putting out her cigarette in her ashtray and following her dog. About half way down the hall she heard Kana scream. Immediately picking up her pace, she ran into the kitchen only to see flames shooting up and out of the stove. Shiki was barking aggressively at the fire.

"It just suddenly burst into flames!" Kana said, shaking with fear as Mai caught up and began dragging her back.

"Everyone stay back. Noriko-san, get a fire extinguisher!" Noriko nodded before quickly grabbing a fire extinguisher and giving it to Takigawa before she consoled her sister in law who was crying in fear.

"Naru, I found another extinguisher!" Mai said.

"Toss it!" Ángelita said, holding her hands out. Mai tossed it and the older woman caught it. She then quickly set to work, helping Monk put out the fire. "Hey, someone go shut off the gas!"

After they were finally done the stove was covered in white foam and the walls and counter were singed. Monk, Ayako, Mai and Ángelita were sitting on the ground, covered in ash and panting.

Shiki suddenly started barking and growling at the window. At the same time Mai was looking in the same direction before her eyes widened in fear.

"Naru! The window!" Mai yelled.

Immediately, Naru ran over, opened the window and looked outside. Ángelita rested a hand on one of her guns, just in case it was actually a living person and they wanted to do harm.

"...There's no one there." Naru said.

"Yes there was! Someone was looking in. A child..." Mai said. Monk and Mai both turned to Noriko, who looked extremely nervous.

"But...Ayami should be in bed in my room..." Noriko said.

* * *

After the incident in the kitchen everyone went up to check on Ayami in her Aunt Noriko's room. It was dark in there, only being lit by the moon and Ayami was still up. Everyone watched through the door as Ayami 'tucked' Minnie in.

"Minnie, I'll cover you with a futon." Ayami said.

Noriko went in and turned the lights on just as Ayami was putting the blanket over the doll.

"Ayami?" Noriko said. She trotted over to Ayami as the little girl stood up before placing her hands on her shoulders. "Ayami, were you peeking in the kitchen window?"

"No." Ayami replied.

"But Mai-chan said she saw a small child. That wasn't you outside, was it!?" Noriko asked.

"No it wasn't." Ayami said.

"Ayami!" Noriko said, trying to make sure the small girl wasn't lying.

Ayami backed up, looking scared. "It wasn't. IT WASN'T ME!" She yelled. Suddenly there was a large pound from the ceiling. More knocks quickly followed. That was all it took to send Shiki into another barking frenzy.

"Wha... What!?" Mai asked fearfully. The furniture began to shake with each bang. Shiki was barking like a maniac and Ángelita's heart was beginning to pound.

"It wasn't me." Ángelita noticed the bookcase was beginning to shake especially violently. "I didn't do it!" Ayami yelled. The bookcase then tipped over, heading towards Ayami's aunt.

"Noriko-san!" Mai screamed.

"Sister!" Ayami yelled.

Mai covered her mouth in shock. Ángelita immediately ran in. Seeing that she was cutting it close, she slid over on her knees. She stopped in front of Noriko and just barely managed to catch the bookcase. She grunted at the impact and winced when some books fell on her. Mai screamed when the bookcase fell on her and Shiki kept barking. Ángelita struggled to try and push the bookcase up.

"Monk! Would you mind giving me a hand!?" Ángelita said with a grunt.

"Oh! Yeah! Sorry." Monk said before jogging over and helping her lift the bookcase.

* * *

The next day everyone was looking at the monitors, reviewing the footage from last night. Lin sat at the computers, handling all of the technology while everyone else crowded around him. Noriko wasn't injured last night, thankfully. Shiki had almost tackled Ángelita to the floor once she was out of harm's way, covering her face with licks and making sure she was alright. Shiki was sitting faithfully next to his mistress as she sat in another chair.

"You failed again" Monk said.

Ayako blushed. "Excuse me! I know I'm useless!" Ayako scoffed before walking off and out of the room. She was most likely going to change out of her priestess garb.

"I'm impressed you were able to catch that book case." Monk said, turning to Ángelita. "You're stronger than you look."

"I'm a veteran from the spanish army." Ángelita smirked before turning her head and pushing her hair out of the way. On the back of her neck were two small tattoos. The first one was the seal of the spanish army and the one underneath it was the coat of arms of Spain.

"Impressive." Monk smirked.

"You may leave now if you're scared." Naru said.

"I...I'm not scared." Mai said angrily, clenching her fist but Naru wasn't listening anymore.

"By the way, it almost seemed like the poltergeist was responding to Ayami-chan's shouting. Mai also mentioned that she saw a kid in the kitchen window." Monk said. "You think that Ayami-chan caused the poltergeist?"

"The auto-suggestion indicated that a human didn't cause the poltergeist. How sure are you about the results of the test?"

"One hundred percent." Naru said firmly.

"Is it possible the auto-suggestion failed?" Monk asked.

"No way."

"How can you say..."

"Naru," Lin spoke up. "The temperature is starting to decrease."

"LIn, the speaker." Lin immediately increased the audio and everyone could here loud rattling going on in the room.

"But there's no one in Ayami's room..!" Mai said in shock.

On the monitors, the room looked completely normal but it sounded like the the furniture was rattling or being thrown around. Only, the room _looked_ completely fine.

"Wow..." Naru said, looking at the thermographic cameras with wide eyes.

"What it it?" Ángelita asked.

"The temperature...it's dropping very quickly...now it's below freezing." Mai looked at Naru in shock. "There's no way Ayami-chan is causing this. It's impossible for a human to do this..!"

* * *

Ángelita was zoning in and out as she sat at base. She had just finished playing fetch with Shiki for about an hour. The white German Shepherd was taking a nap at her feet. Lin was watching the monitors, Mai was up in Ayami's room with Noriko and the little girl, Naru was sitting in a chair, reading a book and Monk and Ayako were arguing about nothing.

Ángelita was running a hand through her black hair when her phone dinged. She had gotten a text. She saw it was from Takeshi, her party guy and booty call. She had met him when she walked into his club not long after arriving in Japan. She had just wanted a night of dancing and fun, maybe even a quick hook up. A woman has needs after all. She met him and found that he was funny, attractive and very fun. They had a one night stand and Ángelita didn't expect to run into him again but after returning to the club several times and decided to have a non exclusive 'friends with benefits' relationship. Basically, they were friends, who occasionally had sex and also slept with other people. No romantic feelings involved.

Takeshi: "Hey! How's your case going?"

Ángelita: "The activity is pretty spaced out but the furniture has moved and a fire started."

Takeshi: "Creepy! :-0 Well, go kick ghost butt!"

Ángelita: "Please, all I ever do it smoke, be snarky, sarcastic and occasionally provoke a ghost into attacking me. But I will. Have fun!"

Takeshi: "Oh I am having fun ;) She's a little upset that I'm texting you while we're doing it though."

She slapped a hand over her mouth and tried to smother her giggles. Part of her was wondering if he was serious but then she mentally slapped herself, he was rarely embarrassed and was actually most likely telling the truth. _'Jeez, he really has no shame. But at the same time that's kinda funny.'_ She thought to herself.

Ángelita: "LOL! Asshole!"

* * *

Later on when the sun was setting and Ángelita was sleeping on the floor next to Shiki. She was using the white dog as a pillow. She woke up when Mai was talking to Naru about something but she wasn't focusing on that. She was to busy wondering about her dream which was quite possibly one of the weirdest dreams she had ever had. She was in a courtroom because, apparently she was on trial for murder. She didn't know who she murdered, or at least she didn't remember from the dream. But the one thing that stood out to her was the fact that her mother was sitting behind her with the other spectators and she was making tamales for everyone in the court. The funniest part about the dream was that at the time, Ángelita didn't find it odd. Her mother was just cooking food while she was on trial for murdering someone.

"...Ayami-chan really said that?" Naru asked, catching Ángelita's attention.

"Yes...isn't that strange?" Mai asked while Naru assumed his thinking pose.

Later on, Noriko managed to bring Minnie. The doll had blonde curly hair, a red dress and green eyes.

"This is Minnie..." Noriko said, presenting Naru with the doll. "My brother gave it to Ayami as a gift right before we moved into this house."

"Did Ayami-chan change before or after that?" Naru asked.

"I believe it was after." Noriko said.

"GIVE IT BACK!" Ayami yelled, running up to Naru and trying to reach for Minnie. "GIVE MINNIE BACK TO ME! DON'T TOUCH HER!"

"Ayami-chan, I heard you can talk to Minnie?" Naru asked.

"NO ONE TOUCHES HER!" Ayami screamed before snatching Minnie out of Naru's hands and running off.

"Ayami!" Noriko called out but the little girl never looked back.

* * *

"Oh that was the 'Minnie' doll?" Monk asked. "I'm surprised that 'little one' let you borrow it."

"I took it after she fell asleep." Ángelita said. Mai had originally volunteered for the task but Ángelita did it anyway, she was a whole lot sneakier than the teenager anyways. The doll was in Ayami's room on the bed and there was a camera pointed at it.

"...That doll is spooky looking." Mai said.

"Well dolls were originally made to contain spirits. They were hollow and soulless on the inside so spirits could easily possess them." Monk said.

"Soulless and empty on the inside..." Ángelita mussed out loud. "You mean like Naru?"

Mai and Monk started laughing, Lin even managed a couple of snickers when Naru suddenly stood up from his chair, eyes wide.

"Naru? What..." Mai looked at the camera and gasped. Minnie was lying faced down on the bed. "...Minnie!?" Mai said. "...No way...It was just sitting..."

Ángelita glanced down at Shiki and sure enough, all of the fur running down his back was standing straight up as he looked at the ceiling, growling quietly. Everyone watched with wide eyes as the doll slowly began to slide down the bed. The head then slipped off and rolled off of the bed.

* * *

"There's no recording of it on the video...anywhere..." Lin said as he typed away. "No reading of movement on the other instruments either."

Monk then walked in and Mai turned to him. "Oh! Monk-san! What'd you find out?"

"...Nothing." Monk sighed. "Minnie's head wasn't off. It was just sitting there like nothing had happened."


End file.
